Lost Memories, Reborn Evil
by Sholay
Summary: Sonic, Manic and Sonia, triplets, live in post-revolutionary Mobius where Dr. Robotnik reigns supreme. To Sonic, this is how the world has always been. But what if, one day, he remembers? Another world: Tails, Knuckles, Sally…Shadow and the ARK…
1. Prologue

**Lost Memories, Reborn Evil**

_By Hyper Shadow_

Hello, as you know already, I'm Hyper Shadow. This is my FIRST Fanfic so please be nice. Flames are only accepted if you say why you don't like my story. Now, let's get down to the more important details.

**:Disclaimer:** I don't own Sonic. If you know of a story that has something similar with this one, it is purely coincidental.

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**+-Before the story information-+**

First, before I start the story, there are a few things that need to be cleared up. This story takes place 1 year AFTER Sonic met his brother and sister: Sonia and Manic, and he has NOT met Knuckles yet…but there was also a time period before the current one (think, alternate dimension… sort of), in which Sonic knew Tails, Knuckles, Sally, and the others.

**Ages: **Sonic, Manic and Sonia are 16, Tails is 12, and Knuckles is 20.

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**+-To Those who don't know what Sonic Underground is-+**

In this TV series, Sonic, the main character, has a brother and sister, Manic and Sonia. They each posses special medallions which turn into instruments when the touch them. Sonic has an electric guitar, Sonia has a small piano, and Manic has a huge set of drums. They can shoot lasers with these instruments, and they use them to -Fight for Freedom- from Dr. Robotnik (not to mention, find their mother, Queen Aleena.)

Sonic is mainly the leader. He is headstrong, impertinent, and VERY impatient; he doesn't listen to any of the plans his siblings make and lives his life spontaneously from chilidog stand to chilidog stand. Oh yes, did I mention that he has a HUGE ego?

Sonia, his sister, loves to think of herself as the brains of the outfit, she acts like a rich, spoiled, saucy girl most of the time, but she can be really nice sometimes. It's sort of a backhanded compliment, but it's true, as you will see in my story. Sonia's one weakness is that she hates to get dirty…she's a great fighter though.

Finally there is Manic, he is the mechanic as well as the thief of the group. He doesn't have as big an ego as Sonic or Sonia, but he sometimes gets jealous of them. He can't run, like Sonic, and he can't fight, like Sonia, but he can make one nasty earthquake with those drums of his.

That's all!

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Enjoy!

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**Prologue: "Dreams Can Come True, So Can Nightmares"**

_Darkness…_

_I know it surrounds me, yet I can not turn to look behind me. This should scare me, I know it should. The message doesn't reach my brain however, all I can feel is emptiness… _

_Despair…_

_The feeling hits me like a club. At least now I know that I'm not dead. You don't feel things when you are dead…or do you? I don't know…I've never been dead…or have I? I can't remember. For all I know I could have been in this dark void since the beginning of time, or maybe it was only 5 seconds. I am not sure. Time does not seem to have any meaning in this place; even I only have a vague conception of what it is…_

_Pain…_

_I cry out and fall to my knees, clutching my head. This only makes the pain in my head intensify though. I can't stand it! It's too much to bear! What is going on? Why is this happening to me? A thousand questions float through my mind (or maybe they are only the same ones, repeating themselves, I don't know). I wish I could make the pain stop. Flickers of images, things that I could only guess are memories, squeeze themselves through the pain._

_A picture of a two-tailed fox...a Kitsune?_

_A picture of an Echidna, menacing me (playfully?) with his large fist…why was there two large spikes protruding from his knuckles?_

_A picture of a squirrel…female, I think…she looks pretty…_

_NO! I cry out again, stopping the flow of images. I don't know these people. What is this? What is happening to me? The pain is too much now, I'm going to faint, or maybe even die, since I'm already in this strange world. Just when I think that I can't handle the pain anymore, it disappears. Confusion sweeps over me as I stand to my feet. Where did the pain go? I didn't actually realize that confusion is the only emotion I've felt so far that hasn't been forced down my throat. I sway gently as I stand. I feel dizzy, but since there is nothing to lean on, I end up back on my knees. _

_Again I am looking in front of me, but this time something is different. I realize with a start that I can move. It feels as though some barrier that was confining me has disappeared and, along with having these strange visions, I can move as well. _

_The darkness in front of me ripples, like a huge drop of liquid splashed on it. The ripples catch the light (where did the light come from?) and sparkle. I watch in awe for a few minutes, until I realize that the ripples, instead of getting smaller, are getting larger. The light is getting unbearably bright, and more colors are gradually being added to it. Like a giant prism. I shade me eyes and look away, worrying that I will be blinded by the light._

_I had nothing to fear though._

_The light soon dulls to a bearable level. I peek between my fingers slowly…_

_And gasp._

_WOW! I stare at what is before me. _

_A green field, with a beautiful lush forest surrounding it. A small, sparkling stream winds its way through the field, small fish with shiny green-and-blue scales playfully swim and churn the river, while larger, more graceful fish swim majestically through, making sure the smaller fish know who is boss. All throughout the field are beautiful flowers: rose bushes outline the border of the grassy plain, small forget-me-nots wind pretty patterns and outline trails through the field, and bushes of bleeding hearts dot the field, making the field look as though someone had spent years planning every detail. I know that there are many more variations of plantation in the field, but I can not remember their names. I look towards the trees, curious to see if there are more surprises awaiting me there. There are. The trees have small yellow dots on them that, upon closer inspection, turn out to be cute little flowers. What is the name of that type of tree? I remember hearing it once, long ago…la…lab…luburnium? Laburnum… that was it… a laburnum. I blink. What is this place? And why does it feel so familiar?_

_Green Hill…_

_The name flitters through my head. Green Hill? I know that name…from somewhere…I don't have any time to brood on it however, because a loud crash interrupts my thoughts. What the…? The crash is accompanied by a huge robotic foot crashing into the field, destroying flowers, killing fish, uprooting the ground, and creating large craters in the ground. I scramble backwards, not realizing that the robot was in the screen and could not get to me. In my panicked flight backwards, I happened to glance upwards into the cockpit of the giant…_

_Robotnik__…_

_I know him. I don't need some delusional images to tell me the horrors he has caused. He was the one who separated my siblings and I from our mother! He was the one who, with his crazy idea of world domination, roboticized a good portion of Mobius! And turned it into Robotropolis! But then…what is he doing here, in this strange world of beauty? _

_Somehow though, I know the answer. He is destroying Mobotropolis. _

_A portion of my brain is screaming at me, asking me how I know this, and that such a thing never happened._

_Another part of me, a stronger part is telling me the opposite. It DID happen._

_Long, long time ago. _

_I realize this now._

_From then on, the screen seems to play in fast motion, but I still catch every detail. First it shows how I, with a few friends, stopped Robotnik and destroyed his machine. Then it shows me how Robotnik came back, bigger and stronger than ever, and with a robotic double of me. Again, we foiled his plans, except this time, I traveled with a certain two-tailed fox. I also noticed that I collected seven emeralds that I used to become the invincible Super Sonic. _

_Chaos Emeralds, I realize. I see myself and my fox-friend (Tails) as we traveled to a floating Island, no, floating isn't the right word. Flying, now that's more like it. We met a hostile Echidna, who proved to be not only a worthy opponent, but a faithful ally as well. That is, when he found out Robotnik betrayed him. I also found out another interesting fact at that time: I could become Hyper with the miniature Super Emeralds. Even while the real ones were safely stored in the Hidden Palace, on the Floating Isle, with the Master Emerald (this one kept the Island flying). After this long adventure, I see the other freedom fighters (just like my siblings and I are now) and myself, trying to settle down and get some well-earned rest. _

_This was not to come though._

_Only a few weeks later, the Floating Isle crashed into the water, and an _'_all new_'_ adventure began with a chaos-hungry water beast. Apparently, Robotnik had been fooling around with ancient echidna history, and in doing so, he released the monster, Chaos. Chaos was a water beast that absorbed the negative energy of the chaos emeralds, the _"_God of Destruction_"_, as Robotnik, oh-so-lovingly christened him. The screen flashed, showing me as Super Sonic. What? I thought I needed the emeralds' power to-…oh, wait, I can now recall, that in order to reach Super, I had to use the positive energy of the chaos emeralds. It made sense, it battle, we would cancel each other out, but then… wouldn't I be dead? As I watch, I see the positively-charged me and the negatively-charged Perfect Chaos (what the monster became after absorbing all the chaos emeralds: a huge lizard-shaped water demon) engaged in battle in the flooded city of Station Square. Astonishingly, when I won the battle, Chaos and I did not cancel each other out as predetermined, rather, I turned him _"_good_" _so that they (Chaos and an ancient echidna, Tikal) could be re-sealed into the Master Emerald. The battle had been taxing, and I don't think I ever looked at water the same way again. _

_Not even now._

_Of course, it didn't take long for Eggman (as we called Dr. Robotnik to spite him) to cook up another plan to destroy me, and get Earth (Mobius was a part of Earth) under his control. He released a strange Hedgehog, who was not who he seemed to be. This Hedgehog matched me in every way, and he wasn't even robotic! This adventure proved to be the most exciting, and emotional, of them all. It led me all over the world, and soon I ended up in outer space. In the end, the Hedgehog learned his true goal, and sacrificed himself to save Mobius. I alone, returned to the spacecraft alive. Now I realized that there was a problem. As I watched the screen, I saw myself and 5 others trying to decide how to get back to Earth. (Eggman and I had reached a temporary truce, since Rouge the bat, his so-called ally, turned out to be a government spy. I think he was just trying to save his own skin.) Suddenly the screen shook, and the entire space colony ARK, along with Earth, was pulled into a black hole._

_I think, strangely enough, that the little me on the screen had been killed for sure, but then the screen flickered and changed. I gasp at what I see. _

_We were alive! The Black Hole turned out to be a giant time warp, which was soon going to warp us back in time. Somehow, the others and I were all aware of this, but none of us knew exactly when the Warp would take us to. Or whether we would remember anything. So taking special care, we hid 6 of the 7 Chaos Emeralds, so we could get them if we ever remembered this. We also hid them so that if we didn't remember anything then we wouldn't accidentally destroy the world with their power._

_So, that's what happened. I close my eyes. We were sent back to the time before any of this happened, before I was born. Apparently, when we were sent back we regressed in age, and somehow, Mother became the Queen, instead of King Acorn, and I got a brother and sister. I wonder how the change affected the others. Is Tails OK? Is Knuckles evil? D-did Shadow come back to life?_

_Somewhere, far-off an alarm sounds._

_I open my eyes and look up. Already the world around me is starting to twist and blur. Slowly, the darkness lifts, and brightens. Soon, this will all be just a dream. At least I know what really happened now. I sigh. I guess it's time to wake up now…_

Sonic woke up with a small shout, sweaty and slightly unnerved by what had happened. A small whisper escaped his lips…

"I remember…"

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A.N: WELL that's all for the prologue. Heh, when I first thought up this chapter I though that it would only be about 1 page, but LOOK AT IT! It's :gulp: 4 pages and more than 2,000 words (the first note included)! WOW! I don't think that I've ever written that much in all my 13 years.

Please R&R, It's my motivation, and my inspiration. Heh, that rhymed anyway, gimme some good feedback, and I'll give you a good next chapter. I accept reviews from everyone.

**TBC**


	2. Thoughts and Discovery

**Lost Memories, Reborn Evil**

_By Hyper Shadow_

Hey! I'm Back! With Chapter 1! Thanks to all who reviewed my story. I really appreciate it! That's what got me motivated enough to write this! PS: I'm probably only going to be able to write 1 chapter a week…Homework uh! shivers

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**-Before the Story note-**

Uh, yeah, there's only one thing to say: in the last chapter, Sonic was the one who was dreaming, the chapter was written from his viewpoint.

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**Chapter 1 "Thoughts and Discovery"**

"SONIC!!"

Sonia stood outside Sonic's door, impatiently waiting for the Hedgehog to wake up.

"Uhnnn? Huh? Wassamatter? Go…a-…way… holiday" Came the groggy reply. It sounded as though he was going back to sleep.

"SONIC, WAKE UP!! I KNOW THAT IT'S OUR HOLIDAY, BUT IT'S **TWO IN THE AFTERNOON!!**"

"Ugh. If you only knew what happened to me, you'd let me sleep." Sonic mumbled

"What'd you say?" Asked Sonia who, luckily, hadn't heard him.

"Uh, NOTHING! DON'T WORRY, I'M UP NOW!"

Sonia, who had been walking away, halted. She turned and headed back to Sonic's door. '_That's odd. His voice sounded different than usual. It sounded deeper, more…mature?' _Sonia paused at that thought, and giggled slightly to herself.

'_Sonic? Mature? Heh, I must be going crazy, the last thing that Sonic would ever be is mature. He can barely be trusted to be by himself when he sleeps, not to mention when he's awake! Besides, being able to tell how mature someone is by their voice? Ha! That's ridiculous!' _However, she still couldn't shake the feeling that something strange was going on with her brother.

Aloud, she asked "Sonic! Are you sure you're alright? Your voice sounded kinda… strange."

There was a pause, and then…

"I'm alright! Really! It's either your imagination, or the door's muffling my voice."

"Hmmm…" Said Sonia thoughtfully. "I guess you're right." She turned and walked away, still not satisfied. '_Still, what he said DID make sense' _she reasoned. A few seconds later she sighed.

'_But then, that's the whole problem. Sonic NEVER makes sense.' _She sighed again, deeper this time. '_Oh well, I guess it must have something to do with the "get-rid-of-Sonia-and-go-back-to-bed" routine.' _She left off there and thought no more of the incident, for now.

Back, inside of Sonic's room, he was indeed still in bed, but he hadn't just woke up. After his alarm had rung (and died, from being thrown straight at a wall) at 8:00am, he had stayed awake long after then, musing over his dream. Especially the parts including the chaos emeralds.

Sonic sighed '_I wonder what happened to the 7th chaos emerald. We hid 6 of them, but the 7th(the green one) was missing. I wonder if Robotnik took it. Hmm…I wonder if the others remember, and if they are also going to find them, it's a good thing that we arranged a date to meet there.' _Sonic glanced at his calendar on the steel wall of the motor home. It was the 26th of July, six days until they had all agreed to meet.

Sonic got out of bed and (strange enough) started picking up the mess in his room. He smiled inwardly, '_Heh, if I gotta be late, and get a tellin' off from Sonia, I might as well have a good excuse.'_

Sonic moved in front of his bed, putting a few pens and pieces of paper in his desk, then shuffling through a stack of books. Not being used to spending a lot of time in one place doing one thing, he found his mind wandering.

'_It's a four-day trip to the place where the emeralds are hidden, so I have two days to spare. Maybe,…I'm going to pass Robotropolis on the way to the place, so, maybe I can go there, and see if he remembers. After all, he IS the only one that I knew in the past, that I'm still in contact with. Yeah, and from what I remember, only those who, uhhh… 'caused' the…change in history, would remember…I think. Well at least I know that Sonia doesn't remember anything, otherwise she wouldn't have acted so unconcerned.'_

Sonic stopped then, he stuffed the old books that he was holding absently into the sock cupboard and then straightened. '_Sonia, Manic.' _He had forgotten all about them.

'_Oh, great' _

He slapped his forehead, '_now I'm gonna hafta take THEM too! Ohh…how am I going to explain to them that I've lived an extra life in an altered dimension? And then, the same guy who is now a metal-happy freak, used to be a world renowned genius who went and blew-up half the moon is supposed to be an ally who helped us save the world. And THEN there is an echidna, and a two-tailed fox, and an old rabid fangirl who are supposedly my friends from the 'altered time'.' _He groaned '_They are so going to think I'm crazy, I can't even think straight any more.'_

Sonic found himself standing in front of his mirror. And without much thought, glanced up into his reflection.

"What the-" Standing before him was a blue hedgehog, covered from head to toe on dust. It was not this that startled him though. Sonic gazed at his reflection, and moved a hand over his spikes. They were pointing downward, and there were more of them then usual. He had also gotten taller, by about half a foot, he was thinner and more wiry and the eyes that stared back at him were green, instead of brown.

Sonia was right, Sonic had changed. He looked, and sounded exactly like he did before the time shift.

"How am I going to hide this one?"

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**AN.** FINALLY! I finished this chapter! Sorry for the looooong delay, but I have a good reason! I actually wrote most of this chapter last weekend wince , yeah, I know that IS a long time ago, but the computer went and froze on me, and so I lost the story. Heh heh, no, I uhh forgot to save it ducks the debris that the angry mob throws . But now I'm BACK! And I am going to try to update once a week, and I know, this chapter is very short, and not that great, but it was rushed, for YOU! SO BE HAPPY! And I'll make a longer (and better) one next week…If I get reviews.

P.S. There was a lot of explaining to do, so I decided to stop here, and start the story in chapter 2 (it won't be so wordy, or thoughty… hopefully )

**TBC**


	3. While the Storm Blows

**Lost Memories, Reborn Evil**

_By Hyper Shadow_

_Enjoy!_

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**Chapter 2- "While the storm blows"**

"Hey, Sonia! This is a great lunch! Did ya make it yourself? What is it?"

"Manic," Sonia said, slowly, pronouncing every letter, as if she was talking to a child. "What you are eating, is called an EGG, E-G-G. More specifically, an omlette, if you must know. It is the most simplest thing on the earth, and YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT IS!?"

"Relax Sonia! Jeez, I was only complimenting your food. You don't need to have a tantrum. Besides, I've lived in a sewer most of my life. We don't get gourmet food served to us on a silver platter, like you. I'm so sorry that I don't meet your requirements, Sonia." Manic said, getting angry.

"Oh Manic, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings," said Sonia, lowering her eyes.

"Heh, S'okay Sis, besides, I don't think that my home was the problem, more likely, it was Sonic. With him around, we're all subject to malnutrition."

Sonia giggled, "You're right, he eats like a pig. No one can get a bite with him around."

"Especially when chilidogs are involved," Added Manic.

"Hmm, yeah. I still don't get how he can eat those things; just the smell of them makes me sick. I'm kinda glad that he's sleeping in, 'cause now I don't have to worry about him giving away our position, AGAIN, to Butt-nick." Sonia said, remembering all the times Sonic had blundered because of his own cockiness, she used her 'pet name' for Robotnik.

"Sonia! Don't be so hard on him." Manic said, in mock anger. "Besides, you are his **twin** sister, and technically, that means that you should be like him. Also, I can remember a lot of incidents where YOU have messed our plans, like that time when-"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. You can't say much yourself either. You've messed up a lot more times then me!"

"Have not!"

"Have too!"

"Have not!"

"Have too!"

"Have-"

"Listen Manic," interrupted Sonia. "How about you list all the times you've seen me mess up, and I'll do the same for you. Then we will know who is the most error-prone, besides Sonic, of course," She compromised.

"Alright," Manic sighed, "I guess we have nothing better to do now. Since it is raining buckets out there." Manic gazed out the window. Outside the weather was so bad that you couldn't se three meters in front of you. The rain was coming down in torrents and the fog was hanging over everything like a thick blanket. Although it was only 2:50, it looked as though it was at least 4 hours later. It was lucky that the three had managed to park their trailer inside a safe cave. It was still too windy to go outside though, and the only space in the cave was taken up by the trailer.

"Hmph," Sonia stood up and walked over to the window. She crossed her arms as she gazed out the window. "The last time the weather was this bad, I was still with my guardians. I remember that I was having a writing lesson with one of my tutors. Cordelia was her name, I think. Heh Heh, I was so frightened by the thunder that I dove underneath the desk. I must have spilled ink over the entire desk. Hmm, I don't think that stain ever came out." Sonia sighed nostalgically, as she recalled her past.

"Ha, that's pretty funny Sonia," laughed Manic. "I can just picture you, screaming and hiding from the 'bad ol lightning.' "

"Oh really?" Asked Sonia, "and just what, might I ask, was the 'brave and noble Manic' doing?"

Manic's smile faded slowly, and he got a faraway look in his eyes. "I was with Toora, one of my old man's friends, and his best thief, besides me. He was teaching me a few maneuvers, when the storm hit. It was horrible, Toora's place was small, compared to mine. It didn't stand a chance against the storm. I only just managed to get away, and only then because I was so small. Toora…" Manic sighed. "Toora didn't make it."

"Oh, Manic, I'm so sorry," Sonia said, shocked, and concerned for her brother.

"It's OK" Manic looked up, meeting her eyes, he smiled. "We had some really good times in the past, didn't we?"

"Yeah, everything was great, in a way, even the storm was, because I was with…them. The storm ended sometime in the night, didn't it?"

"Yeah, it did. And then, then next day, Robotnik took over, everyone was robotocized, and I met you and Sonic."

They were both quiet for awhile, remembering those who they had cared for. Sonia was the first to break the silence.

"Manic, let's not think about that now, weren't we going to have a contest?"

"Yeah! I still bet that I'm gonna win!"

"We'll see…"

Within minutes they were both laughing, both at the stupidity of their own actions, and in the silent fear that if they didn't, they would have to face the memories of lost friends and family.

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**o.o.o.o.o.o.o**

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In a dark corner of the room, on top of a high shelf bathed in shadows, a figure crouched. Stealthily, it crawled sideways, avoiding the objects on the high shelf. As it came to the end of the shelf, it hesitated, and turned towards the twins.

It regarded them for a few seconds thoughtfully. However, the two siblings were too busy taking to each other to notice the creepy feeling one gets when their being watched. After a few seconds, the two bust into a fit of laughter. The figure took this lucky chance to leap lightly off the shelf, it did a flip in mid-air that carried it further. Staying in the shadows, the figure landed precariously on the kitchen table, 5 meters away from the shelf. A small wooden spoon that was jarred by the jump fell to the floor, it made a soft, dull 'thunk' as it landed

The figure cursed it's own incompetence silently. When it was finished, it held it's breath as it watched Sonia and Manic, desperately hoping that they hadn't noticed the spoon. The twins were too busy laughing however, to hear it.

The figure would have sighed with relief, but it knew that there was no time for that. Someone might hear it anyway.

So instead, the figure busied itself by navigating its way over the curved table, ever mindful of stray cutlery. It would have just walked on the floor, if it wasn't so lit up. It was also a lot harder to walk quietly on the ground, as opposed to crawling.

As the figure came to the sink, it leaped nimbly over the large pile of dishes (it was Sonic's turn to clean them), this bought the figure to the end of the table. This time the figure didn't need to look at Sonia and Manic, they were too far away. Besides, they were laughing so hard you would be able to hear them outside, in the storm, no less.

The figure dropped straight to the ground, no fancy tricks this time, it didn't need any. As it landed, it found itself in a corner. It took a few steps forward, never making a sound. Shortly, it paused, and turned to face a door. Just what it was looking for.

Sonic's Room.

The figure pulled out a thin envelope. It gazed deeply at the envelope. A soft, low, sinister voice floated from the figure then. It was so soft that no one but the speaker itself could hear it.

"You had better heed my advice, blue hedgehog." And with a precise flick, tossed the envelope through the grating on Sonic's door.

You did not need to see the figure to know that it was sneering. The figure reached up with a gloved hand, grasped the edge of its cloak… and vanished; the bodiless cloak fluttering noiselessly to the ground.

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**o.o.o.o.o.o.o**

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Sonic was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Even after he had finished 'cleaning' his room, he still did not have an idea of what he was going to do. He had been pacing (or more likely, running) around his room for half an hour, and so far, the only thing that he was able to accomplish was to dig deep furrows in the carpet.What am I going to do?

Should I leave Sonia and Manic?

No, I can't leave them. They could get into trouble.

I can't go outside in this weather anyway.

I wonder if I really need to rush, what if no one else remembers what happened?

But what if they do?

What am I going to do?Sonic stopped in his tracks and let out a small cry of frustration. "Augh! Why did this have to happen! It's all Robotnik's fault, it's always Robotnik's fault, him and his stupid eggs. This isn't fair!"

After Sonic's outburst, he threw himself onto the bed, and he lay there, thinking, as he traced the patterns on the ceiling with his eyes.Stupid timeline, just as my life was starting to make sense it had to jump in and throw everything into chaos. I wonder what happened to Sonia and Manic in the other time. Hmm, they must have been there, somewhere, and mother too.

Sonic turned so that he was lying on his side, facing the wall. And the old king, King Acorn, what ever happened to him? And Sally…

Sonic sighed, remembering the squirrel princess: She was one of my best friends, along with Knuckles (I bet he's still on that island of his) and T-

Sonic sat up straight his eyes were wide and anxiety was written all over his features, along with horror. TAILS! Oh my god! I forgot about Tails! I hope he's okay, I don't know what I'd do if I lost him.

Sonic's eyes glazed over as he remembered…

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_Flashback..._

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"Eeeeek! Help! Someone please, help me!" A small orange fox stumbled backwards as a large robot clanked menacingly forward, it held out its laser and prepared to fire. The fox let out a small yell as he tripped over something and fell flat, right into a puddle of something.

The blast from the laser flew over his head, right between his two long ears. It singed a few hairs, but that was the extent of the damage.

The fox turned slightly to see what had saved his life, but when he saw it he choked on a sob, "Mommy," he cried. The prone figure did not move. The fox turned completely, so that his back was to the robot. He gazed at the figure lying beside that of his mother. "Daddy…"

The two figures were lying face up with their eyes closed. The Mother had four tails that were spread out evenly behind her. The Father only had one, which was lying to the left of him. They had both been shot in the chest and the fox had landed in a puddle of their blood.

A loud clanking sound brought the fox back to reality. He looked up at the Robot before him, the only one that was left after a dozen of them had ambushed his Mother and Father. He had been an unexpected bonus.

The robot made a cracking sound as it took another step forward, it had landed on the hand of the Mother. The fox let out a cry of despair as he scrambled backwards on all fours.

He hadn't gone three meters before he backed into something hard. Looking behind him, he realized that he had backed into a wall. The Robot bleeped in delight as it walked forward. It paid no heed to where it stepped.

The robot stood in front of the fox and raised its laser again. The fox closed its eyes, ready to meet its fate.

"Hey you stupid bucket of bolts, don't you know better than to attack a child?"

The robot hesitated and looked around in confusion. It scanned the area with its sensors.

"Up here, tin-head!"

The robot looked upwards at a nearby house. Standing on one of the stair rails of an emergency escape was a young, blue hedgehog.

The robot made a strange disgruntled sound as it raised its laser at the hedgehog, but before it could get a lock on him, he had disappeared. The robot turned emotionlessly back at its other captive, only to find him gone, he had crawled away while the robot was distracted.

The robot turned around to look for him. He found the fox, huddling near the hedgehog from earlier. The robot raised its laser, unaware that something was wrong. The hedgehog smiled and carefully picked the fox up.

The robot fired.

* * *

ALRIGHT! That's all for chapter 2! Yes, I know that I left you in the middle of a memory, but this chapter was getting too long, so I decided to end it here. Don't worry, the next chapter will not take as long to get up, this time I actually mean it! By the way, exams are coming up so I will not be able to update often (but I WILL update).

Also, if I confused you with the part about Sonic then don't worry, because the remedy is in the next chapter, if I confused you with Sonia and Manic then…Sorry. I can't do anything about that. I just wanted them to have some…character and feelings. So I made an interlude based solely on things that happened in their past, and their feelings. If you didn't like it, then tell me, and I'll try not to do it again (unless it's necessary).

(don't worry, the next chapter picks up RIGHT after this one)

By the way, I have a question for you all, do any of you know you Sonia's so-called, 'boyfriend' is? I think it was Bart-something, anybody know? Also, does anyone know what Manic's foster parent's name was?

**Disclaimer:** You know the drill, I don't own it (well I own Toora, but he died, so…)

**TBC**


	4. That's One NEAT Letter

**Lost Memories, Reborn Evil**

_By Hyper Shadow_

Hey all! I'm back! I told you that I would not take too long, and, seeing that I have nothing new to say, I'll say this: On with the story!

By the way, in my fic, Sonic and Knuckles are really close friends (though not as close as Sonic and Tails). However, when they first met, Sonic and Knuckles hated each other, and Knuckles always thought that Sonic was immature, he also called Sonic lots of names. this isn't necessary to know, it's just extra information (like their ages).

* * *

**Chapter 3- "That's One NEAT Letter" **

Right before the laser hit, the hedgehog curled into a ball and spun straight at the robot. He held the fox tightly to his chest, keeping him out of danger. The bullet missed the curled hedgehog entirely and the robot didn't have the chance to move before the spinning ball of spikes crashed into it, ripping it apart. It never knew what hit it.

The hedgehog slowly slowed and uncurled, the fox was clinging to him so tightly he could barely breath.

"Hey there! You can let go now, it's over."

The fox slowly loosened his grip, but he didn't let go. He gasped when he saw the remains of the robot. "Can you teach me how to do that?" He asked in his tiny voice.

The hedgehog laughed, "Yeah, sure! Maybe someday." The fox smiled, and sucked lightly on his thumb.

"By the way," the hedgehog continued. "I'm Sonic the hedgehog, what's your name?"

"I'm Miles Prowler, I'm a Kitsune, although I don't know what that is…" The fox answered shyly, "I don't like my name," he added softly.

"A Kitsune?" Sonic whispered. He couldn't believe it, Kitsunes were extremely rare, and they were hunted and killed by the hundreds by Robotnik, he claimed that they had some special ability.

"Yeah," Miles replied. "My Mommy and Daddy said that I was the last one." Tears welled up in the boy's eyes, he looked ready to cry any second.

"Hey there, it's OK, shhh," Sonic held the child close. He thought about what he would have wanted said to him when he lost his parents. When he couldn't think of anything, he remembered what Miles had said: "I don't like my name." That was when Sonic noticed Miles's two tails. '_So it's true' _he thought '_he is a Kitsune.'_

"Hey!" Sonic said, he pulled Miles away from him, and held the boy at arm's length.

"Yes?" Miles asked.

"How's about I call you 'Tails', hmm? You like that?"

The fox giggled slightly, "Tails," he tried. "I like that!"

"Good now come on, lets go, I'm going to take you somewhere you'll be safe."

"You won't leave me, will you?" Tails asked, his eyes were pleading.

Sonic looked at him and smiled. He shook his head. "I wouldn't leave you for anything in the world, little buddy."

"Thank you," Tails said, relieved.

Sonic stood from his sitting position, but when Tails tried to follow, he found that he didn't have the strength to stand.

"Here you go," Sonic said picking him up. "I'll carry you."

"Are you sure? You won't get tired?"

"Naw, besides, you're very light, and I've carried heavier things. The place I'm going to take you isn't that far anyway." Sonic said, indifferently.

"Thanks Sonic, you're my best friend." Tails said, yawning.

"And you're mine," he replied softly.

Within minutes Tails had fallen asleep, and was snoring softly. Sonic looked down at him fondly. '_The poor kid' _he thought, '_he's gone through a lot, being a Kitsune. Don't worry, I'll take good care of you. Heh, maybe you'll even be my sidekick someday.'_

Tails sighed softly, and a tear slides down his cheek. He rolls over in Sonic's arms and curls into a ball. He sucks on his thumb.

Sonic smiled sadly down at him '_He's so cute, and tiny, and yet he's strong to. He may be a good fighter someday.' _He halted then and considered something. After a few seconds he turned and headed towards the forest. '_You'd better get comfortable kid,' _he thought, '_we're changing course'_

At first, Sonic had been planning to drop the kid at the Orphanage. But now...

_'We have a long journey ahead of us. You'd better be rested too.' _Sonic hesitated as he reached the border of the forest, he turned and gave a long look at the city. Smoke was rising from every alley, people were screaming, robot lasers were flying everywhere, along with blood. Sonic made up his mind, and stepped determinedly into the forest.

_'We're going to be freedom fighters.'_

* * *

_End Flashback_

* * *

Sonic snapped out of the memory and pushed himself to his feet conclusively. He knew what he had to do.

He would start his journey, the storm wouldn't stop him, barely anything could. He will stop at Robotnik's place. If he remembers, he would smash whatever search party Eggman has. If he didn't, well…then…he would continue on his way. After he finds the chaos emeralds he will go visit Knuckles, if they hadn't met up yet. Then, somehow, he will find Tails.

Sonic's plan was made without caution or thought, Sonic was aware of this, but he figured that he would deal with any problems when they come. Sonic walked to the door, but he stopped as he laid his hand on the knob. After a few seconds he withdrew.

_'I can't go out there! What if Sonia and Manic don't believe my story?' _Sonic thought.

_'You have to go out there!' _Another part of him argued._ 'They have to believe you, just look at yourself! And if they don't believe you it's probably better, because then they can't mess things up! You have to find the Chaos Emeralds.'_ Sonic frowned,he knew what the emeralds could do in the wrong hands, and he didn't want to see anything like that ever again …

_'It's a good thing that the moon is whole again.'_

Sonic laid his hand on the knob again.

Just as he was about to open the door, an envelope dropped from one of the slots in the door. It hit him smack on the head.

"HEY! Who's that? Sonia? Manic? Is this your idea of a practical joke? Jeez, you could have given me a paper cut!" Sonic cried (saying what he knew he would say before he got his memory back), making sure to use a high pitched voice. When he got no reply he reached down and grabbed the letter.

Looking closely at it, he saw his name was written on the front of the envelope in black. The writer had used a fancy flowing script that must have taken years to perfect.

Turning the letter over, he found a simple, red wax seal holding the flap closed; not revealing anything about the letter's origins.

Sonic reached forward, and with the edge of his thumb, he broke the seal off the letter and pulled the paper out of the envelope. Warily, he unfolded the paper and saw that it was an ordinary letter, a very neatly written letter, but an ordinary letter none the less. He sighed with relief. Once he started reading the letter however, he found that it was anything but an ordinary letter. As he kept reading, his shock turned to astonishment, which, in turn, turned into disbelieve, that finally ended in suspicion. As he read, his eyes slowly got wider and wider.

This is what the letter read:

_"Sonic,_

_Before you proceed any further in this letter you must know that I am not Sonia and I am not Manic. _

_Who I am, is of no concern to you, that I have sent this letter to aid you, however, is. I will not be idle or indirect with what I have to say, since you obviously have important matters at hand which will demand your utmost attention. _

_Sonic, you remember the events that happened on this very date, do you not? Today is the very day that earth was pulled into the Black Hole. You must be wondering how it is that I know of such an event, are you not? The truth of the matter is, Sonic that everyone who was on the Space Colony ARK remembers. This includes Dr. Robotnik. _

_Yes Sonic, while you were sitting idle in your home, daydreaming, Dr. Robotnik has been busy. He has already sent out a search party. They are making incredible progress, considering the weather. At their current speed they are about one day, thirty minutes, and forty-nine point six seconds ahead of you. That is, of course, considering that you set off after them right this second, and travel at your best speed, the way I remember you doing. I have also calculated the dent that the unsteady variable of wind will make on your speed, I have not however, added the extra time that you will take if you are carrying a burden. _

_Sonic, every extra second that you take is one second closer to disaster! You know better than anyone what Dr. Robotnik can do if he lays his hands on those emeralds. Do not let him do it again, you must set out immediately. _

_If however, you are still intent on taking your brother and sister, then I have enclosed a present, that is waiting for you outside your door. _

_Do not reveal yourself to them until the timing is exactly right. Do not worry, you will know when to show them who you really are. _

_You must trust me however, now is not the time. If you must, then there is always the option of sneaking out on your own. Make your decision quickly, for you do not have much time. You must make haste!_

_P.S. As a heart warming piece of news, I am happy to tell you that your little friend: "Tails" is alive and well. He lives with his foster parents, happily and away from trouble._

_Until we meet again, blue hedgehog. I have, and will, forever aid you, no matter what the cost happens to be. Do not hesitate to stick your head out and call for help when it is needed, for I will always come._

_Someone you once knew well."_

Sonic raised his head slowly after finishing the letter, after a few seconds, he slowly smiled.

"Knuckles" he whispered. '_It has to be him, no one else writes like that, no one else would call me 'blue hedgehog' anyway.' _Sonic reasoned.

'_But then again, he never has called me anything except 'spikey' or 'brat'.' _Sonic smirked, '_I guess I really DO get on his nerves a lot.' _

"but still," he thought out loud. "Would he really call me 'blue hedgehog'? I mean, 'recently' we have been on first name terms… but…" Sonic shook his head, his smirk turned into a smile. '_Heh, Knuckles is capable of calling me anything. I mean, he called me a 'poliomyelitis' before. Not that I know what that means, but… well, it doesn't sound too healthy. I wouldn't put it past him to perfect writing like that either, I mean, what else does he have to do on that island of his in his spare time.'_

Sonic turned the letter over in his hands, looking for a clue that would direct him to who might have sent the letter. To his immense satisfaction, he found it, in the form of a small red hair. "Yes! I knew it!" Sonic exclaimed, proclaiming one of his first 'mental' victories over Knuckles. "Now, let's see what you've 'enclosed.' "

Slowly, and quieter than a mouse, Sonic inched the door of his room open, careful not to alert Sonia or Manic of his presence. He needn't have worried though, they were laughing their heads off at some joke. '_They're so loud that you'd be able to hear them outside' _Sonic thought. _'In the storm, no less.'_

Sonic poked his head out the door, and looked left and right. Not seeing anything out of the ordinary, he looked down.

"Ahhhhh…" he said softly, as he saw the cloak on the ground.

He knelt down on one knee and raised the cloak so that it was eye level to him. As he observed the cloak, he found the material to be weatherproof. It coated with thick fur on the inside, and on the outside, it looked like some sort of velvet. Sonic took his glove off to test his theory, and found that the inside was soft and furry, just what he had thought. When he moved his hand over the outside though, he felt only 3 centimeters of velvet-like fur. Below that, was a plastic material, that would keep the rain from going through, as well as the snow.

Sonic was slightly disappointed that the cloak had plastic in it. He would have preferred getting wet to making all the noise that the plastic will make when he moves around. When he shook the cloak however, he was astonished to hear no sound coming from it. _Strange plastic _he mused.

Sonic stood up and, holding the top of the cloak, he held the cloak out in front of him, looking closely at its full length. About 2 inches would drag on the ground when he wore it, but to Sonic that was probably best. He didn't want anyone to notice him if he was sneaking around, the white of his sneakers would definitely show through if the cloak was any shorter.

Sonic moved the cloak from side to side, looking at the cloak as it moved and rippled like silk. '_This is indeed a great treasure.' _Sonic was surprised to see that when the cloak moved, it didn't once catch the light, it always remained the same shadowy black color. '_Your just full of surprises aren't you?' _He mentally asked the cloak.

As he moved to take the cloak inside, he heard a dull 'clunk' as something dropped to the ground. Looking below himself, he saw an object on the ground. _'It must have been lying on the ground on its side, my movement prob'ly made it fall over.' _He bent over and picked the object up. '_Ski goggles? What are these for?'_

Sonic entered his room and silently shut the door. Still pondering the ski goggles, he just happened to look up, straight at his own reflection. It was then that he realized. "Of course!" He said, mentally smacking himself (his hands were full), "my eyes…" He tried the goggles on, and after assuring himself that they were a perfect fit, he looked at his reflection. "Hmmm…nice." The goggles hid his eyes completely, you could no longer tell whether he had brown eyes or green eyes, because on the outside, they were tinted.

"Cool."

Sonic then reached for the cloak, and as he was fastening it he realized that it was not all that heavy, it was actually pretty light.

"Ah! What's wrong with this clasp?"

He looked down at the clasp, so that he could fasten it, it was then that he saw the design on it. A phoenix curling around a star. '_That's odd,' _Sonic thought. '_Knuckles was never one for symbolism. Oh well, It doesn't matter anyway, he's probably trying to trick me or something of the sort.' _

He slid the small metal catch into a thin slit on the side of the clasp, and when he was sure that it held tight, he pulled the hood over his head. Finally, he turned and gazed at his reflection. '_Uhh! I look like some sort of Mafia person, or worse, some sort of Grim Reaper, all I need now is a scythe and I'm all ready,' _He thought with a smirk. '_Ready for one of Sonia's rich costume parties, that is.'_ He added, as an afterthought.

Sonic turned, and with his new cloak sweeping the ground behind him, he cleared the space between himself and the door within a second.

_'Here goes nothing,'_

he thought as he reached towards the door, a millimeter away from the door, his hand stopped. Images of Sonia, Manic and himself floated to his mind, coupled with those of Tails, Knuckles, Sally and many others_._

"No." He whispered. "Here goes everything."

* * *

!Author Fun Time!

I just want to know, who you think wrote the letter. Knuckles? Or someone else?

Note: I will not reply to this one in the next chapter (c'mon, didja really think I would?)

This is just for me to get a few ideas, and maybe have some fun. (I love reading reviews)

* * *

**TBC**


	5. If Only for a Chilidog

**Lost Memories, Reborn Evil**

_By Hyper Shadow_

Hey Again, all those reading this fanfic, I know that it took a long time to get this chapter out, but here's my excuse:

I was writing my 5 midterms (_pain…lots…of…pain_) and then I had to write my speech, and I had to type up (and create) my 3 page essay thingy. Then, I had to do my Science project, Geography project, Math project, Language Project… goes on talking in the background

BUT... now I'm back, and doing what I like best… WRITING THIS FIC! (lucky for all you readers)

First things first:

**Disclaimer:**I don't own Sonic

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 4- "If only for a Chilidog"**

"Sooooooo, you're telling us that Robotnik is planning some new device to take over the world, right?" Sonia asked slowly, all the while staring with disbelief at the cloaked figure that was Sonic.

"That's right." Sonic answered, getting increasingly annoyed. _'We've been over this 5 times! What is so strange about me telling Sonia and Manic that Eggman's gonna try and take over the world…again?' _

_"_And you're telling us that you want all three of us to go and trash Buttnik's new plan, right?" Sonia continued, cutting Sonic's thoughts off.

"Yes." Sonic all but hissed.

"All before breakfast?" Asked Manic, who was sitting, turned around in his chair with his eyes wide with shock. He looked as though he was ready to call the hospital.

It was then that Sonic realized what his siblings had been hinting at. It hit him like one of Egg Golem's heavy stone hands. Behind the impenetrable darkness of his hood, and behind the goggles he wore, Sonic's green eyes dilated as he realized that his old attitude, as well as his old habits were all gone. There was no way that he would be able to pretend that he was the old: gimme-a-chilidog-and-I'll-be-friends-with-you, hedgehog that he used to be. He had seen, and done, too much.

he thought '_I might as well stop trying. I'll never be able to convince them that I am still the old Sonic that I used to be. But… I have to take them with me to find the emeralds. They might get into trouble if I leave them here. Uhhhh…what to do. What to do. I have to think of something, and fast… I'm loosing enough time as it is. If the note was correct, then the search party must be about hours ahead of me by now! I have to think of something…'_

After a few seconds of hesitating, Sonic said the most reasonable thing he could think of, which, considering his situation, was probably the only thing that he could say that Manic and Sonia would believe.

"Uh, well, you see….heh heh." Sonic paused, he was nervous that his plan wouldn't work. Lucky for him however, this nervousness was misinterpreted for naughtiness by Sonia and Manic. "I actually, kinda, wanna check out this new chili dog stand right next to Robotnik's place." He paused then, and mentally smirked at Sonia and Manic's exasperated, yet somewhat relieved faces.

'_So it wasn't the most ingenious plan in the world' _he thought to himself, '_who cares? So sue me! At least it worked!'_

Spurred by the satisfactory reaction he got from his siblings, Sonic continued on: "I noticed the stand a few days back, b'fore our vacation started. The sign said that the stand would open today, and that there would be free chilidogs!"

Sonia and Manic took the bait, hook line and sinker. All Sonic had to do now was reel them in:

"So, do you guys STILL think that I'm demented?" He asked.

"No more than usual, big bro." Manic answered with a smirk.

"And to think," Sonia added with a sigh. "I almost thought that my good manners and sensibility were rubbing off on you. I guess that you still have yet to earn the title: 'Big Brother'."

"I'll take that as a compliment, and thank you." Sonic said, and he made an exaggerated, sweeping bow, being careful to keep his face and body covered.

Manic snorted, and chuckled while Sonia puffed out her cheeks in annoyance. "Only you would." She huffed, and with that, she picked up her plate, stood up, and spun around so that her back was facing Sonic. She then marched over to the sink, and dumped the plate rather noisily into the sink.

"Ohhh! You make big sis MAD! Heh heh. Poor big sis!" Manic crowed, rocking back and forth in his chair as he tried to contain his laughter.

Sonic watched the scene unfold in front of him, neither moving to intervene, or laughing at the mess they were making. Sonia, in an attempt at revenge, had thrown the soapy dishcloth at Manic, and by chance, it had hit him smack in the face.

Manic then tried to feign hurt, he even pouted a little "Awww, c'mon ssiiiss, you know I didn't mean it!"

"OH NO YOU DON'T YOU'RE NOT GETTING OUTTA THIS ONE LIKE LAST TIME!" Was her blunt reply

At this point, Sonic chose to say a few words:

"She's got a point there Manic,"

"HEY! You're s'pposed to be on my side!" Manic whined pitifully, or tried to.

Sonic shrugged and looked away, remembering the last time Sonia had forgiven him…she had woken up the next day to find a rubber spider 'crawling' on her bed, only, she hadn't known that it was rubber.

If there was one thing that Sonic had learned after that experience, it was: Sonia + anything that crawls on 4 or more feet one hell of a headache. Honestly, Sonia had yelled for almost two hours after that incident.

Sonic turned his attention back to his brother and sister, and he wasn't surprised when he saw Sonia chasing Manic around the table brandishing a frying pan. He didn't know what Manic had said or done to make Sonia so angry, and in all honesty, he didn't want to know. All he was aware of was the minute hand on the clock on the wall.

_4:15_

It had been 2:00 when he "woke up".

He was loosing time, and he knew it. _'If Robotnik gets to those chaos emeralds before I do…'_ he shook his head. _'It's not right to think of such things.'_

"Hey! Sonic! C'mon, join me! We can deal out twice the amount of punishment if we work together dude!" came the cheerful voice of Manic, while Sonia screamed something in the background.

Sonic again turned his attention back to the two, but this time, he was surprised at what he saw. No longer were they chasing each other around the table, but dueling in a battle royal, otherwise known as a water fight, near the sink. Apparently Sonia had screamed because Manic had gotten a little bit of water in her hair, she was now using her pan to scoop and throw water. Manic was prepared for this, and as he dodged the flying water, he tackled Sonia, causing them to both crash into the ground. Sonia spluttered and coughed, her good mood washing away as quickly as her soaked hairstyle.

"GET OFF ME RIGHT NOW!!" She screamed. For once however, Manic had her securely pinned down, and he was showing no signs of letting go.

"C'mon Sonic! Soak her with the water, quickly! C'mon, it'll be just like before!"

Sonic however, stayed rooted to the ground, staring in shock and disbelief.

_'Good Gods! I was actually that immature?! It's a good thing Knuckles wasn't there to see me then!'_

"Manic, I think you should let Sonia up now, we really do have to leave. Now."

"Aww, c'mon dude! You used to be much more fun than this, what's with you today? Didja wake up on the wrong side of the bed? Why don't you just throw some water on her?"'Hmph…'much more fun that this'. If only you knew.'

Sonic stood his ground, not moving to help Manic. After a few uncomfortable seconds, Manic shrugged, and proceeded to let Sonia go, helping her to her feet as he stood. "Whatever," he said.

Sonia, however was a bit more verbal, "Hmph! Look what you did Manic! My hair is all messed up, and my clothes are wet! Augh!"

She then turned to Sonic, "And I guess YOU will be wanting a 'thank-you' hm?"

Sonic, turned to the side, and waved his hand absently, only revealing a fraction of his white glove, nothing to be worried about.

"No, not particularly," he said. Before Sonia could question his statement, he quickly added: "I would much rather that you both go tidy yourselves up a bit. Oh, and wear something warm, and waterproof. We'll be leaving as soon as you are both ready."

Sonia was shocked, to say the least, that Sonic didn't want an apology, but being the vain hedgehog she is, she was quick to turn her attention to her dripping hair. She muttered and cursed as she wrung out her hair, completely missing Sonic's last two statements, the only thing she heard was 'tidy yourselves up a bit'.

Manic, not really caring what he looked like, had not paid as much attention to Sonic's first sentence as Sonia had. He did however, notice when Sonic told them to wear something 'waterproof'. Manic's brow creased in confusion.

"Waddaya mean bro? Waterproof clothes? What are we gonna need those for?"

"Well, Manic…" Sonic stated calmly, his deeper voice, sounding somewhat smooth and silky, compared to Manic's rough, accented speech. "We will be leaving as soon as you two are ready, and I'm afraid that we won't be able to take the truck. So, since that is the case, it is most probable that we will be getting a little…wet." Manic's mouth hung open, and Sonia ceased her attempt at salvaging her hairstyle.

"WE'RE WHAT!?" Sonia screamed, causing Manic to jump a few feet in the air.

"WE ARE NOT! WE ARE NOT GOING OUTSIDE! DO YOU REALIZE, IN THAT TINY PEA-SIZED BRAIN OF YOURS, THAT IF WE GO OUTSIDE, NOT ONLY WILL WE GET SOAKED, BUT IT IS QUITE LIKELY THAT MY HAIR WITH NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN!"

"And that is precisely why you are going to wear waterproof clothes. So, that you don't get wet, besides, at the speed I'll be taking you, the rain will probably evaporate before it touches you." Sonic said, calmly, unfazed by Sonia's outburst. _'I've heard much worse things before'_ he thought, remembering the biolizard.

Sonia looked as though she had been told that her death was tomorrow, she muttered something under her breath, which sounded suspiciously like: 'Since when did he learn words like 'evaporate?' '

She then stormed out of the room, and a few seconds later, came the sound of running water. She wouldn't be back for a while.

Back in the sitting room, Manic was staring at Sonic. Even without any real schooling like Sonia, he was still able to pick up on little things that usually go unnoticed, little things like a slight difference in attitudes, or appearance. It was required when you were a thief, and right now, his sights were set on Sonic.

Sonic however, was in no mood to be scrutinized. He turned on his heel, and flopped lazily onto the couch, pulling his cloak around him so that it didn't billow out. "Go and get ready Manic," he said softly, turning his head away from the green hedgehog. "I want to leave as soon as possible."

From his peripheral vision, Sonic saw Manic looked at him strangely and tilted his head to the side slightly, Sonic smirked at him underneath his hood 'That look so doesn't fit him; he actually looks like a little brother.' As he finished his thought he turned and gave his full attention to the one in front of him. 'Hmm… it seems as though he has something to say.'

Manic surprised Sonic with his next comment, driving the 'little brother' thought furthest from his mind: "Sonic, what is it with you today? First you act all strange, by coming down here in those clothes, then in a voice a whole octave lower then your normal one, you tell us that you want us to leave right now, before eating anything? The Sonic I know thinks of food before all else, and when faced with water, he is scared stiff. What ever possessed you to make you want to go out in this weather? Chilidog or no?"

Sonic couldn't answer, he knew that his cover would be blown sooner or later, but he wasn't ready to let go of it just yet. "Manic," he sighed. "Please, just… just go and get ready, I promise that all will become clear to you in due time. You need to be patient however, and before you say it, yes, I do know that patience is not one of my strong points, but believe me, the wait will be worth it." He said this quietly, but his tone was firm, Manic could not argue.

Manic looked confused again, he hesitated then slowly turned to leave. He had gotten two steps when he turned around eagerly. "Do you know where Mother is?" He asked, "Is that why your in such a rush? Because you got this message from Mother, telling us where she is, and where we can find her?" His eyes were pleading, begging Sonic not to refuse him an answer.

Sonic saw the look and melted. What could he say? He couldn't lie; doing that would crush Manic when he found out the truth. And his naïve belief that all the world would someday end of a happy place will be washed down to those sewers that he had spent so much of his life in. Sonic couldn't tell the truth either, for reasons that even he didn't understand, Sonic just somehow knew that the time for truth was not yet upon him.

Looking again into Manic's innocent brown eyes, Sonic said the only thing he could think of: "My reasons are mine alone, I will tell you however, that our destination may bring us a great step closer to finding Mother." _Mother_, even that simple word was strange on his tongue, he had had no Mother in the other world…

…No brother or sister either…

Looking back at Manic he noticed the disappointed look on his face, it almost shattered him, almost; the look of blissful happiness on Shadow's face as he fell to his doom in the atmosphere, had shattered him…

"I can't believe that I'm still blaming myself for his death," he murmured, luckily, Manic didn't hear him.

_'Even though it was my fault,'_

Sonic shook his head slightly; it would do no good to argue with himself, he had spent too much time doing it last time. _'And by the time I came out of it, it was too late to save the others from the time warp-'_

This time it was Manic who interrupted his thoughts, it was a good thing too, for Sonic had been having a hard time doing it himself,

"I think that I'm going to go change now, 'kay?"

Sonic looked at him sharply. Manic hadn't sounded upset at all, at the most, he sounded a little soft, which, being as strange as it was, had greatly surprised him.

As if reading Sonic's mind, Manic gave a small smile and a slight chuckle. "Sonic, I'm not upset in any way, so you don't have to seem so shocked. Yes, I actually CAN read you underneath that hood. I trust you, 'kay, dude? I mean, it's not like you're leading us into a big trap or something, and I know that you probably have a good reason for not telling us anything. I'm satisfied with your answer anyway, as long as we get closer to finding Mother. So chill, okay? The whole 'act all serious like,' thing really doesn't suit you. I mean, it's like you've been taken over by beings from another dimension."

It was Sonic's turn to chuckle, and under his breath he whispered, "you're not as far from the truth as you may think."

"Anyway… I'm really gonna go change now, and when I come back, I want you acting like your old self." Manic said half-joking, and with that, he departed.

Sonic sighed and slid further into the couch. His fleeting moments of laughter quickly fading. _'Sorry Manic, I don't know whether I'll ever be able to give you that again.'_

Before he could slip any further into his depressing thoughts he heard a door open and close.

A few seconds later came a shrill scream and some laughing, followed shortly by the sound of a door slamming open and hitting the wall behind it.

Just then Sonic saw Manic dash by his sofa, laughing madly, and a split second later he saw Sonia, dripping wet and clothed only in a towel hot on his heels.

Sonic raised an eyebrow in bemusement as he watched Manic and Sonia running around the small coffee table in front of him. If he hadn't been pressed for time like he was, he would have laughed, but right now…

"It's going to be a long trip." He sighed.

* * *

_One hour later_

* * *

Sonic was standing at the mouth of the cave.

Sonia was on his right; she was wearing large pink and purple galoshes, with a matching pink and purple raincoat. The raincoat was overly large, coming right underneath her chin and reaching down to her ankles, she had it completely zipped up, so that the tight jacket showed off her perfect figure. The only part of her ensemble that was the slightest bit out of place was her hat. Sonic had almost snorted when he saw it. It was crazy.

Sonia hadn't been kidding when she said that she didn't want her hair getting wet, and this hat was proof of that. First, Manic had waited outside the bathroom door as she spent about 6 minutes stuffing all her 'perfectly made' hair into her skin-tight hat. Then, when she had finally had all her hair in the hat, she opened the door only to trip over a laughing Manic. The hat was tight on her head, keeping all her hair dry, the unbelievable part though, was that the hat had a brim that extended about 8 inches around her head in every direction. "It stops the rain from going near my neck," she had claimed. That remark didn't make a dent in Manic's laughter.

Sonic would have laughed along with Manic, but he had remembered that with the wind outside, it was likely that Sonia's hat would get blown off after awhile, especially with the speed they would be travelling. Sonia would no doubt want to have her hat at all times, they would have to double back every minute or so.

Alone, Sonic could travel at the speed of sound, maybe even a little faster, and not have any trouble breathing; this was, of course, without the chaos or super emeralds. When carrying someone, he could travel a little more than a quarter of that speed, so as to not trouble the rider's breathing. Now, with that hat, he would have to travel a little more than half of that speed. He would never get to the Chaos emeralds before the search party did.

__

'The rain will end at some point. Then I won't have to worry about the hat. Good. I'll just have to live with it until then.'

Manic was standing on Sonic's left; his outfit wasn't as outgoing as Sonia's, but he didn't quite blend into the shadows as well as Sonic either. He wore a large, heavy dark green raincoat, with sneakers showing underneath. He couldn't be bothered to cover his head however.

"If it's gonna rain, I might as well enjoy it fully." He had said, Sonia, amazingly enough hadn't commented on his remark. Sonic had found this quite intriguing, and when he questioned Sonia about it, she had said that she didn't want to hurt his feelings by making fun of his childhood. Obviously, she had been remembering the event with Toora.

Sonic smiled to himself, Sonia and Manic could really act childish sometimes, like when they had been chasing each other around the coffee table. (In the end, Sonic had to shout to get their attention, and when he told them that he was getting a headache, Sonia had stalked off to the bathroom, and Manic had strolled to his room. Sonic had taken a well-earned nap after that.)

However, more than once Sonia and Manic proved to be trustworthy and extremely dependable. Like right now, when Sonia gave up the chance for a perfect revenge by thinking of Manic's feelings before her pride. Sonic decided that no matter how late those two made him, he wouldn't leave them. He would find some other way to make up lost time.

'Great. Just great.'

'_Sonia and Manic are as good allies as Tails and Knuckles were. It's strange, these four are so much different from each other, yet, they all seem exactly the same to me.' _In his mind's eye, Sonic saw Knuckles and Tails in the places of Sonia and Manic. They would be standing on either side of him; the only difference was that Knuckles and Tails would never bicker… At least, they never seemed to…

_'If I do get all the emeralds, what then? Is there a way to change the past? Or is there a way to stop Robotnik and his roboticizing for good? Can the chaos emerald **do **that?What if Robotnik gets them?'_

_'No. He can't He **won't**. I will not allow it.'_

"HEY! HELLO IN THERE!"

Sonic started as he saw Manic's hand wave in front of his face.

"Are we going anytime soon? Or are you going to think of chilidogs for the rest of your life?" Came Sonia's question. Sonic could practically see the smirk on her face.

"Aww sis, you don't understand, he's just thinkin' 'bout breakfast, nothing wrong about that." Manic said defending Sonic.

"You boys and your stomachs. I'll never understand you." She sighed, rolling her eyes, and crossing her arms.

"You girls are your hair. I'll never understand YOU." Manic countered, leaning around Sonic, and poking Sonia.

Sonic saw that the fight was about to get ugly, so he grabbed both their hands and pulled them forward.

"I think it's time that we left, don't you two?" He asked.

"It's 'bout time." Manic grunted.

"I, for once, agree with him, it is about time." Sonia said with a nod.

"Very well then, say goodbye to the truck, this trip's gonna take a few days…alright. You two ready? Hear. We. GO!"

And with that, Sonic blasted out of the cave, holding Sonia's wrist in his right hand, and Manic's in his left.

The two riders practically flew behind Sonic as he ran. They could feel only a slight tug on their arms but they ignored it, only enjoying the feel of the air rushing past them. After a few hours they would get tired and their breathing would get ragged; at that point they would ask Sonic for a rest. Until then, Sonic would carry them as far as he could, for he did not tire easily.

As they past the last of the trees surrounding their hide-a-way, Sonic glanced backward at Sonia and Manic, to see how his two tow-a-longs were doing. Manic seemed to be enjoying himself fully, and Sonia was holding her hat in her left hand, it had come off long ago, and her hair was streaming behind her. She didn't seem to care though. She too seemed to be enjoying herself.

Sonic turned his attention back to his chosen road, smiled, and increased his speed, so that he was going at a half of his ability. Sonia and Manic could handle it.

His previous internal was conflict resolved.

_'Robotnik, you are not getting those emeralds._

_I am back, and I'm going to bring you down._

_Knuckles… Tails… I'm coming._

_I know you're out there. Somewhere._

_I will find you._

_Together, we will change this world into something we can all be proud of.'_

* * *

!Author Alert!

Right now, my muse has gone on vacation,

due to overwork, and minimum wage sigh dratted rent-a-muse.

SO! This means that reviewer ideas ARE welcomed, so please,

go click on the little purple-blue button that says 'GO' and submit a review.

It will be much appreciated.

* * *

**Notes: **Egg Golem comes from the Sonic GameCube game 'Sonic Adventure 2 Battle'. This is the game that I described last in the Prologue. The one that had to do with the Black hole, and the 'mysterious hedgehog'. Anyway, for those of you who are not familiar with the game, let's just say that Egg Golem is a large…. NO! NOT A LARGE EGG! He is a large, robotic giant, with a stone covering. Egg Golem's fist alone is about as high as 3 Sonics standing on tiptoe. Sooo…yeah, getting hit in the head with one of those would HURT!

Biolizard also comes from 'Sonic Adventure 2 Battle' in it's original form, of an overly large lizard (standing about 10 times the height of Sonic) it was challenged, and defeated by the 'Ultimate Lifeform' also known as the hedgehog, Shadow. After this battle, it came back 'to life' and had to be defeated in space by Super Sonic and Super Shadow. After they defeated the monster, Shadow gave the last of his rings (which keep him and Sonic Super) to Sonic, who was running out. Sonic, unaware that the rings were Shadow's last, took them. And so, that is how Shadow 'died'. He returned to his original state while they were still in space. Anyway, back to the Biolizard. The Biolizard's roar is about as loud as its height. So, imagine Sonia screaming, then multiply that by 10…. OUCH! Yeah, all those who've heard the brute of Sonia's yell can probably imagine this… do those who haven't, imagine any girl's high pitched scream, and multiply that by 10…Heh, yeah, I think you got my point. (by the way, no offence to any girls, after all… I AM a girl)

ALSO! BEFORE I FORGET!

Thanx to all those who reviewed, AND are still reading this fic (didn't dump it 'cause I didn't update) hands them Sonic & Shadow plushies

AND! A special thanx to….. Tsunami Wave! YAY! - - you reviewed every chapter so far, and that, to me, is really motivating. THANK YOU! gives Tsunami Wave plushies of every Sonic character, and a life sized one of your favorite character You get squished by the enormous figure

I hope you're all still reading this fic! I didn't mean to leave you all hanging for soo long…

Heh heh….and to think, this is only the 4th chapter, imagine what I'll be doin' when the end of the fic comes around!

Lastly, to all those action lovers, there will be action in the next chapter, no more talking and waiting! Promise (and I don't mean 'hitting people on the head with frying pans' action - )

TBC


	6. Hearing Things?

**Lost Memories, Reborn Evil**

_By Hyper Shadow, Now known as Shadow in the Dark_

NOTE: I have decided to add Sonic Adventure into the story (the one with Perfect Chaos). Also, if you haven't already noticed, I have changed the prologue to incorporate this game, as well, I have made minor changes to some other chapters. Most are fixed spelling, however, there is one thing, in the flashback, I said that Sonic was 8 right? Well, when he met Tails, I meant to call him 4 (8 in human years) and Tails was 2 (4 in human years) All right, I hope you all got that. Also, if there are any other spelling errors (even if I said "for" instead of "of") don't hesitate to tell me (man, I am DESPERATE for reviews…)

ON TO THE STORY!

* * *

**Chapter 5- "Hearing things?"**

Night had fallen.

Sonic, Manic and Sonia had set camp under a rocky outcrop, it wasn't a cave, but it still sheltered them fairly well from the rain, which was still coming down in sheets.

Sonic stood, nearest to the wall, his back to his siblings as he surveyed their sanctuary. _Not much, _he surmised. Grass grew on the ground, and moss dotted the crevasses in the wall of rock. That was all. There was nothing more, nothing less, however, the area was also dry, not one drop leaked through the "roof" _It's not great _Sonic mused _but it's not bad either, I've been in worse, _he reasoned.

While Sonic gazed around himself, lost in thought, Manic had Sonia's hat in his hands, and was holding it out in front of himself, upside down, while he stood at the edge of the outcrop. Sonia herself, was too busy staring at herself in awe to notice her missing hat.

"Sonic, you were right! I can't believe it, I didn't get a drop of water on me!" Sonia said, while she shook her hair out and continuously combed her fingers through it. Sonic turned to answer her, but as he did, he noticed someone moving behind her.

"HA!" Manic yelled as he overturned the water-filled hat over Sonia, promptly soaking her. "GOTCHA!"

"AH!" Sonia screamed, then, in a flash, she had spun around, flicking her semi-wet hair rather painfully into Manic's face. She advanced on him, shaking her fist in his face. "Why you little-! Why I oughta-! I am going to KILL you!" Manic backed away, with a slightly nervous grin on his face, his hands up in defense.

"Heh, heh… I didn't mean anything, honest…heh…er…Sonia?"

Sonia looked livid, as she continued to advance on Manic. All of a sudden, she swooped down, and scooped something up,

"Uh, Sonia? What do you have there? What are you doing? Can I see?" Manic asked, looking nervous, he had a small weak smile as he attempted to make light of the situation.

Sonia grinned then, and stretched out her hand, smearing the wet mud she had picked up all over Manic, who yelled in shock and protest.

Sonia stood back then a smug grin on her face, and her arms crossed, surveying her job well done. She may be covered in water, but she had gotten back, that mud would take days to clean out of his spikes. She was surprised, however, when Manic grinned through the mud, slowly wiping it off his face.

"What's so funny?" She questioned, frowning.

Manic gave her a toothy grin, then laughed. "I never thought I'd see the day!!"

"Whaaat?" She said again, annoyed, dragging out the world in a very unladylike fashion.

Manic gave her a bemused expression, noticing her tone, then said. "If I'm not mistaken, you just snatched up a very big quantity of disease-ridden, horrible, disgusting, slimy mud that you swore you'd never touch."

Sonia, realizing this, immediately unfolded her arms, and proceeded to shake her hand out, much to the amusement of Manic, who was doubling over, laughing.

"Eww! Gross! I can't believe I just did that!" Sonia shouted, with a disgusted expression.

Manic just continued laughing.

All of a sudden, Sonia's eyes snapped to Manic, she then walked over to him and proceeded to wipe her hand on him..

"H-He-Hey-y…" Manic stuttered between his gasping for breath. "What are you doing?"

"Cleaning my hand, what does it look like?"

Manic gave her a mock-offended look, then grinned evilly

There was a second of silence, and then…

Manic tossed a glob of muck and dirt at her.

Sonia gasped then stumbled backwards, clawing at the dirt that 'tarnished' her raincoat. She then looked up at Manic giving him a death glare. "Oh, you are soo going to get it now…"

Manic was laughing again.

She cried out in frustration, then launched herself at Manic, ready to claw, scratch, tickle or whatever, it didn't matter, as long as she hurt him.

She saw herself falling, she would have landed on him-

-if someone hadn't grabbed her arms first.

She gasped, as she was pulled back and onto her feet. Manic looked up in surprise also, no longer laughing.

Sonia looked back at the one who had grabbed her.

"What-"

"Shush! Quiet!"

"Sonic?" Questioned Manic. "What are you-"

"Be quiet, will you!" Manic looked at Sonic in shock, and Sonia, whose arms were finally free, stepped back from the cloaked figure.

There was a second of silence, then Sonic's harsh whisper cut into the silence.

"I think I heard something"

* * *

**o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o**

* * *

When Sonic had seen something dark sneak up on Sonia, his hand had shot out on reflex. It wavered then paused when he had realized that it was only Manic playing a joke.

With a frown of irritation, Sonic had quickly covered his gloved hand again; the light that radiated from the jewels of his bounce and fire bracelets once again safely concealed within the inky black folds of the stranger's cloak.

He had almost blown his cover.

If either Sonia or Manic had seen his bracelets, they would have immediately have asked where he had acquired such treasures, such things did not come cheap, and he could not just say he 'picked them up' such stories would not be believed.

It would all have gone downhill from there.

Especially since the true stories were even crazier.

_'Honestly,'_ Sonic thought, quietly giving a dark chuckle, _'who would believe that I got this, he fingered that small air mask around his neck, from a seemingly nonexistent race of echidnas?'_ He paused then, thinking of the reactions.

_"What are you talking about?" This would be Sonia, "I have studied history and culture for as long as I can remember, Echidnas died out thousands of years ago. Honestly Sonic, if you don't know, then just don't say anything, making up stories like that really put your intelligence down, and even that's saying something…"_

_"Echidnas, huh?" A typical Manic response, answer a question with another question, all the while speaking bluntly, tactlessly almost. "What's an Echidna? Never heard of 'em. Are you sure you got your facts right Sonic? Didn't eat too many chilidogs again did you?…"_

The idle thoughts almost made Sonic laugh, almost. He had had a strange nagging feeling in the back of his mind since they had set out. The feeling had made him slightly on edge, looking backwards at odd times, and often double-tracking when he had been running. He had felt as thought he was being watched, and more than anything, he wished he had Knuckles' wisdom at this time. The Echidna had extremely sharp senses, being able to pinpoint the cause of any disturbance in the air. It was almost as if the older one had a sixth-sense for danger.

_'I guess that's what comes from sitting on an island in solitude for your entire life,' _Sonic mused idly.

It was slightly painful to think about Knuckles, the change in time had effected Sonic himself so drastically, he could only imagine what had happened to Knuckles…and Tails.

This is what Sonic hated the most. He hated not knowing something, even if it was something trivial, like what they would have for dinner, the not knowing had always hit a nerve in Sonic.

_'I wonder why_…'

Before he could fall deeper into his thoughts, Sonic pulled himself out, and stared at Sonia and Manic. At the moment, Sonia was advancing on Manic, a strange glint in her eye.

Sonic knew this look, it was the look he always had when he was thinking of a particularly evil way of making Tails laugh.

_'Tails_…'

He remembered how he used to be the only one who could make to young kitsune laugh. Only him, the poor kid was always so depressed after what happened to his parents…

_'What happened to you Tails?'_

Sonic sighed, dwelling on these thoughts would not help him or anyone else. They had stopped long enough, Sonia and Manic should be ready to run again, it didn't take that long to recover from Sonic's running.

As Sonic walked forward, he saw Sonia trying to shake the mud off her hand.

He opened his mouth to speak,

And a sharp sound came from the woods.

_'What was that?'_

Sonic closed his mouth with a snap in shock.

…Snap…

_'_…_A twig_…'

Manic laughed as Sonia attempted to shake off the mud.

…Clank…

_'_…_Metal Feet_…'

Sonia walked over to Manic. A second later came his voice in protest

…Voices, beeping…

_'_…_Robots_…'

Sonia's voice came, smug, triumphant and loud.

…Footsteps, more clanking…

_'…A battle…not far…'_

There was silence then, just for a second

…"Dammit--…-can't--…--forever-…--lucky--…--didn't notice--…--dead"

_'…I know that voice! It's…'_

Sonia shouted

"No…" Sonic hissed, barely audible.

He had lost it, that voice, he knew it, but who?

Sonic strode angrily over to Sonia, and yanked her roughly backwards, as she made to jump on Manic.

"What-" She started, but Sonic cut here off angrily, not really knowing what he said, just making sure she was quiet.

He listened, for something. Anything

Silence.

Manic then tried to interrupt, but Sonic, not hearing the comment clearly, rudely interrupted and told him to shut it.

"Be quiet, will you!"

Again he listened

Silence.

Nothing, whoever it was, was gone now. He had missed his chance, it was only then that he saw the strange looks Manic and Sonia were directing at him.

"I think I heard something" was his plain and simple answer.

Sonic spun on his heel, noting quietly, that at some point he had released Sonia, and made his way silently over to the edge of their shelter, the ever-present cloak dragging behind him. Sonic sat at the edge of the area protected by the overhang and pulled his cloak tightly around himself, making sure he hide his 'new' soap shoes, with their light speed upgrade.

A few moments passed in silence…

"D-do y-you know what you h-heard?" Sonia stuttered nervously, very unlike herself.

Sonic noted this with some surprise, Sonia was hardly ever off-balance like that, under normal circumstances of course. He must have really scared them to make, Sonia of all people, cautious around him.

For a split second, Sonic considered listening to the letter-writer's words, and leaving Sonia and Manic. He would be able to travel quicker, and he wouldn't have to worry about hurting them in any way-

As soon as the idea was thought, it was stomped on. He could not leave Sonia and Manic, they were his brother and sister! If he left, then what would happen if they got caught by Robotnik? Also, what had he meant by 'not hurting them'? If he left, their feelings if nothing else of course get hurt simply because he deserted them.

Sonic realized that he had been hesitating in answering Sonia, so he looked down to the ground and immediately said

"No, I don't, there was too much noise to determine who the voice I heard was."

"Oh,"

The guilt, sadness and regret so thick in her voice that Sonic cringed inwardly. He had caused that feeling.

"Look" he said, while staring up and into Sonia's violet eyes. "I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to get upset, it was just that the voice I heard sounded familiar, I was probably wrong anyway. I didn't mean to hurt you or yell at you, all right? Again I'm sorry, will you forgive me?"

Getting yelled at by Sonic was almost as rare as getting an apology, not to mention a beg for forgiveness, and for a second all Sonia could do was gape at him, she took a few seconds to recover, and in that time, Manic had answered Sonic.

"Of course we forgive you! Everyone loses control at some point or the other, what kind of siblings would we be if we didn't forgive you?"

Sonic gave them a grateful smile, then, upon realizing that it was invisible underneath his cloak, muttered a low, "Thank you, guys."

For a minute, there was silence. No one made eye contact with each other, and the air with thick with tension, until finally someone decided to break the ice:

"So, Sonia, you ever think of changing your hair color?"

Sonia answered with a startled, "What?!"

Sonic was guessing that she was shocked at the drastic change of subject, judging by the priceless expression on her face, of course, he was too, but that was harder to notice underneath the folds of the cloak. He noticed that while Sonia looked shocked, Manic had a self-satisfied smirk on his face.

Manic then heaved a dramatic sigh, then smiled and said: "Your hair, it looks great all brown like that, you should consider dying it!"

Sonic laughed at the totally out-of-the-blue comment, and was surprised to see Sonia smirk.

"What about you, Manic? Your head's a pigsty on feet, why not dye it brown to complete the look?"

Sonic smirked then added his own comment: "I don't see the point in either of you spending good money to dye your hair, since you've already done such a great job of dirtying yourselves up, I wouldn't be surprised if that muck never came off!"

Sonic saw Sonia and Manic visibly relax with his comment, and was relieved when he heard then laugh softly, he guessed they were just hoping he would put his own word in. It was a somewhat silent agreement that what had happened was over with, and that it was all forgiven.

Manic and Sonia then proceeded to engage in a quiet, but hearty argument about their individual choices of hair color.

Sonic watched then silently, then smiled a small smile to himself. '_I never really appreciated Manic's ability to talk his way out of a mess, or in this case, shatter the tense atmosphere. I guess I take these two too much for granted, Sonia is an amazing diplomatist, and Manic can make anyone crack a smile. I guess I really do need them around.'_

He sat for awhile, brooding on the voice he had heard, Manic and Sonia were so deep in their conversation, that had somehow switched to hair products ("I do NOT use your gel or spray" Manic tried to convince a smirking Sonia).

_'I wish Tails was here,' _Sonic thought. '_His sense of hearing, smell, and sight are amazing, surely he would have been able to identify the stranger's sent, or voice.' _

Sonic sighed then leaned his head back onto the wall, so that he was looking upwards at an angle. He watched the rain pouring outside, waiting for the darkness of night to settle in, so that he could go scouting. Their plan (his and his siblings) had been to stay here for the night, however, Sonic never, ever sat still for long, so he had made a personal plan to run ahead while it was dark.

He would come back before dawn, he only wanted to look before he leapt into an unknown area with two tag-a-longs. He knew he would never have done this before he had gotten his memory back "Act before you think" that had been his motto, along with the old: "Let's 'jam and 'juice!" Heh, that's why he was waiting for complete darkness, by that time, Manic and Sonia would have long fallen asleep.

He still wasn't ready to let his cover go, even though the need was getting bigger, he had realized that when he had shushed Manic and Sonia, something he NEVER would have done, in their mind.

He had been close, very close to telling them that he had changed, however, the letter-writer's words had held him back ' _"you will know when to show them who you really are". What does that mean?' _Sonic had gone over the words over and over, however he still didn't know what that particular sentence was referring to. However, he did know one thing.

It wasn't time yet.

All of a sudden, he noticed that the camp had gotten a lot quieter, and curiosity won over as he snapped he attention back to his twins.

As he watched, he saw Sonia attempting to salvage her hairstyle, while Manic hung his coat on the wall, his gaze then fell on the fading light of the sun, in a few minutes it would be completely dark.

_'I guess it's kind of late to eat, besides we ate a couple of hours ago, when we stopped at a fruit tree…'_

Sonic told them this, and after getting a few stares, he added: "We can get a big, chilidog breakfast tomorrow." After noticing that they accepted this explanation, he told them to settle in for the night, noting with some humor the rather disgusted looks, probably from him "wanting" chilidogs for breakfast, of all things.__

'Oh well, I guess one good thing came from my memories, I no longer crave food, hmph, they should be happy after I tell them, considering the don't kill me for neglecting to mention my "odd" behavior slash appearance beforehand…'

Sonic slide further into his cloak, finding a place where he was comfortable, then waited and watched the rising light of the moon, soon to be completely obscured by storm clouds. He was entirely oblivious to the other two's process of bedding down for the night, only interested in he rhythm of the breathing that followed. He waited for the steady breathing that would come when his siblings drifted off to sleep.

Before it came though, a voice pierced the darkness

"Sonic," Manic started, conversationally.

"Yeah?" asked Sonic, cautiously, hoping that whatever the younger had to say wouldn't take all night.

"How did you know we wouldn't get wet?"

_'Another weird question,'_ Sonic thought. '_Doesn't he ever ask normal questions?' _However, he remembered Sonia's earlier comment on how she was dry, and knew what Manic was talking about.

_'I've never actually taken them for a run in the rain before have I?'_

He realized knowing that they must be wondering how, if he never ran in the rain, the rain would be 'magically' repelled from the trio.

Sonic knew he couldn't tell them of past experience leading up to the realization that rain avoided him when he ran, however, in his new life, he had actually never ran in the rain. Sonic knew that his answer would have to be vague, however, it would also had to have a certain finality, so that no more conversations could continue. It was almost pitch black outside, the perfect time for scouting, he did not want to pass up this opportunity.

After a moment of deliberation, he decided to strike as close to the truth as he could, without telling stories.

"I've had lots of practice, and if there's anything I know, It's my own speed." He spoke slowly and quietly, trying to get his point across. He must have, because after that no other word was said, save a couple whispered "goodnights".

An hour later, silence once again encompassed the camp broken only by two pairs of quiet snores.

All of a sudden, in the corner of the camp, then was a small ruffling sound, and in the smallest corner of the camp, something smooth and dark fell to the ground silently, the only noise being a sharp "clink" of metal on rock. The sound of the clasp was quickly muffled, the cloak was then left on the ground, but was soon joined by a pair of goggles, which landed neatly, and silently on the bundle.

Slowly, a pair of bright, jade-green eyes opened, blinked once, and were gone in a flurry of shadowed dark-blue spikes.

_'It's time to do a little hunting…'_

* * *

**End Chapter**

* * *

AND THAT'S IT!!

Chapter 5 for all you lucky readers out there, a well as an updated version of almost every chapter. Yeah, I know you are probably all disappointed in the lack of a battle scene, especially since I did promise action…. er…yeah, you see, I can't really explain that, I did mention a battle, the only thing was that the chapter was originally going to be a lot longer…

You see, I didn't expect to write the exchange between Sonic, Sonia and Manic in two different views, however, the fic kinda wrote itself, so, uhh, the real action part will be in the next chapter.

Also, I'd like to thank all the readers who have stayed with me, I know I left you, and I AM sorry, It's just that… well, lets just say that the months went a lot faster then I expected them to.

One last thing, .' yeah, I know, I'm blabbering, but anyway, I just wanted to take back what I said a while ago. I won't be able to update that often, definitely not once a week, however, I will try and I mean TRY REALLY HARD, to update in less than 2-3 weeks. Again, I didn't mean to leave all you wonderful people hanging like I did…

Anyway, that's all for now! Get ready for the next chapter which, I'll give you a teaser stars the DARK FIGURE!! WHOO HOO!! GO DARK FIGURE!! Yeah! Uhhh…. heh, I didn't sound as bad as I think I did, did I? Hello?

_(crickets chirping)_

_(a bush rolls by)_

HELLO?!

plz review? puppy dog eyes I'll be nice and get the next chapter out quicker…

**TBC**


	7. Scuffles in the Dark

**Lost Memories, Reborn Evil**

_By Shadow in the Dark_

Okay, it's been…6 months…Wow, it's actually been that long. I actually never realized time went so fast… After all this, I only have one thing to say: Christmas holidays went too fast, and February and March are the busiest months of the year. Ok, I admit that was two things, but it sounded better to say that I have only "one" thing to say rather than "two" things to say… right…Right?

Uh, I guess no one really cares; you must all desperately want to read the next chapter. Well then, I'm not going to stand in your way…bows

OH! WAIT! …holds out hand you should know first that this chapter takes place DURING the last chapter, if you want verification, check out the beginnings of both chapters….

Now, let's try this again…

* * *

**Chapter 6: "Scuffles in the Dark."**

Night had fallen.

The area outside the rocky outcrop was empty and still, save for the torrential rain which still peppered the land, and save for the dark shadow which moved stealthily along the rocky mountain.

The figure no longer had it's cloak, as he had given it to Sonic, and he was regretting it fully now. All he had was a thin long white scarf that nearly touched the ground but did nothing to keep him dry. The rain poured down mercilessly and he had been soaked to the bone two minutes after he had stepped into the rain after leaving the triplet's trailer.

He had been in the rain for 4 hours since then…

The figure peeked into the "shelter" Sonic and his siblings were staying in. He made no sound except for an annoyed shuffle when he realized that the three weren't even thinking of leaving until the next day.

The figure turned so that his dark spines were pressed up against the rock, and then he growled quietly, and hissed to himself, "Didn't the letter I gave to him mean anything? I inscribed everything, I explained the situation, hypothesized the probabilities. I even described the results that would occur if too much time was taken. What more do I have to do, threaten him?" The figure paused and rubbed at his temple with two figures.

__

'No,'

he said. '_I can not afford to loose his trust. He thinks that I am Knuckles, I can not let him think otherwise… It's for his own good.'_

The figure raised his head then and jumped silently from his perch. He landed with one hand on the ground, and the other stretched out near him. His legs were spread in a wide stance and his entire body was tense. He paused for a second and raised his ears questioningly.

__

'That's strange, I could have sworn I heard something…'

All of a sudden, not far from where he crouched, there was the telltale sound of a robotic beep.

__

'Oh no, not here, not now… if the Doctor finds them now, it could be all over. Sonic can't risk being seen, not for another two days at the very least, if he is seen before that he will have no chance in getting to the emeralds before Robotnik.'

The figure crouched lower. Then, using his hand like a springboard, he pushed himself forward into an easy run. Even without using his shoes he could run faster than most, if not all, animals.

It only took two seconds for him to reach the robot. Sensing it's presence, the figure whipped behind a tree, he pulled his scarf tighter, so that it's white color would not betray his presence. Peeking around the tree, he saw the robot approach his hiding place. Unconsciously, one of his eyebrows lifted. The robot was not like any other he had seen before. He had been expecting the bright, orange-colored robots that had originally been made by Robotnik. He had not, however, expected the behemoth in front of him.

Besides being almost four times the width of the normal robots, it was also 2 times the height. It was entirely black and blue, so the only thing that gave away its presence was its slight metallic shine. It's head and middle section were entirely encased it tough-looking armor. There was also no visible weak point; that was what caught the figure's attention.

__

'So,'

he thought, almost chuckling, '_The old man does learn something every now and again.'_

As the robot took another large step forward, the figure noticed that it was heading directly toward Sonic and the others. The figure sighed to himself and took of his scarf. He hung it on a nearby branch and then prepared himself for what he was going to do, '_guess I have to stop that thing.'_

Stepping in front of the robot, the figure took a confidant stance. His legs were straight, and he had one gloved hand on his hip and the other raised in greeting. He acted as though he posed no threat and was in no way prepared to fight.

"Hey there," was his greeting.

The robot bleeped in what the figure liked to think of as surprise. It paused then and there was a quiet sound of a scanner.

"Unidentified warm-blooded creature." It bleeped. "Identify your name and connection with Doctor Robotnik, or surrender yourself."

The figure paused for a second, and put his hand to his chin, as though he was thinking it over. The robot waited a second then said:

"Identify yourself as friend or foe or face the consequences."

The figure took his hand off his chin. "And if I-"

"Failure to adhere to proper protocol will lead to immediate and complete eradication."

"Well," said the figure, leaning backwards and folding his arms. "That does put a damper on our relationship."

The robot (now noted by the figure as the E-900) waited a few seconds then said: "You have failed to identify yourself, you will now be eliminated."

"Gee," said the figure, smirking, "your going to do that all by yourself? I wish you luck."

All of a sudden, the figure realized that while they had been 'chatting' five other robots had appeared out of nowhere and were now moving to surround him.

The figure groaned slightly and immediately settled into a fighting stance._ 'WHY is it that I can wish luck on someone else and have it immediately effect them, yet somehow manage to have an abhorred amount myself?'_

He noticed that his luck was not all bad however, the robots that closed in on him now were normal-sized. However, they were also black and blue, making it difficult to spot them. However, they would probably block him off from the bigger robot, allowing him to first fight them, without worrying about the bigger robot. On the other hand…

__

'Argh! I have to stop doing that! I must focus.'

By this time, the robots had completed their circle. The figure's prediction had been right, the large robot was blocked off from the fight. However, it stayed where it was, probably as back-up incase the others failed.

For a moment, the figure considered jumping up and doing a homing attack on all of the robots. He shot down the idea however when he realized that the golden light given off by the attack would probably attract more unwanted attention.

__

'Looks like I'm going to have to do this the old-fashioned way…'

It was at this moment that the figure noticed that not all the robots had lasers. In fact, only one had a laser, and it was in the form of a hand-held gun. Two of the other robots had metal clubs, and the remaining two had long metal poles with sharp points at the end. The robots raised their weapons in a menacing manner, in turn, the figure dropped into a low karate stance.

__

'Here it goes.'

To the figure's surprise, only the pole-bearing robots attacked at first. Forced to abandon his stance, the figure dodged to one side to avoid the vertical strike of one robot. He then dropped completely to the ground in order to avoid the vertical slash of the other. Spinning around, he struck out his leg and sweeped the legs out from under one of the attacking robots. The robot fell backwards onto his rounded back and dropped his pole. It flailed its arms and legs fruitlessly, due to its rounded back it could not get back up.

Bending forward, the figure grabbed the pole, but as he did, he saw a bright flash in his peripheral vision. Rolling to the side, he just managed to avoid the burning laser of the gun-bearing robot.

Rising to one knee, the figure spun around, and with an upward, vertical slash he disarmed the robot, and in the same movement, he spun once again holding the pole above his head with both hands. He was just in time to catch the two clubs that would have pounded him into the ground. From one eye, the figure saw the laser gun fly into the surrounding foliage. He expected the robot that had lost it to run after it, so he turned his back to the unarmed robot.

Due to this action, he did not see the robot pause to extract long claws from its knuckles. However, he did see the last pole-bearing robot run at him, intending to skewer him. Forcing the clubs upward, he threw the two club-bearing robots backward. Once again, he rolled to the side, avoiding the running robot. Then, something unexpected happened.

The robot that he had previously thought to be disarmed, now outfitted with gleaming claws, had lunged to cut him in half at the same moment that the pole-bearing robot failed to hit him. When the robot with the pole had missed its target, it had kept running forward due to build up in momentum. At the same time, the robot next to it brought down its deadly claws, right onto the passing robot. The robot that had been running then tripped over the robot that had fallen (and failed to get up) at the beginning of the battle. The robot landed on the other and soon caused the both of them to short out from the flying sparks that came from the gash caused by the robot with the claws.

The figure did not have time to see this entire exchange however, as he had had to roll quickly out of the way in order to avoid the two clubs which had smashed down towards him. As he rolled a second time, he gathered his feet beneath himself and was soon standing. He looked at the two former pole-bearing robots in surprise. As he did, he saw the clawed robot run towards him. He raised his pole up in defense; however, he was surprised when the claw cut through it. He dodged to the side just it time to avoid the second claw; however, he could not help but slam shoulder first into a tree.

_'This really is not a very good place to pick a fight.' _He thought, he then reprimanded himself for not looking for reinforcements before confronting the big robot.

_'Speaking of which,'_ He looked upward and just managed to avoid the sharp spear of the E-900. However, he was not lucky enough to avoid the club of the robot next to it. He flew backwards as the club hit him square in the chest, he thanked the god that his head didn't hit anything as he fell. Instead, he landed in a small patch of moss. In a flash, he was up on his feet again. Ignoring his throbbing ribs, he threw up one end of his pole to block an oncoming club. Using the other part (the pointed side) of the pole, like a dagger, he thrust it deep into the robot's chest. He then pulled it out quickly and backed up as sparks flew from the hole. The robot fell to the ground a few seconds later, dead.

"Thank goodness I studied their robotics enough to locate their power source." He whispered softly, not wanting to think of what would have happened if the robot had survived and managed to beat him again with the club.

Now panting a little, the figure realized that he was beginning to tire. However, there was still one club-bearing robot and the clawed robot to deal with. Not to mention the E-900. Looking up, he saw the clawed robot slash at him. He dodged to the side, and backed up until he hit a tree. That was when he got an idea.

He looked around quickly first to get his bearings. The E-900 was still awhile from arriving. Its steps were incredibly slow due to its large weight. However, its strides were long, and the figure estimated that he had about half a minute before it would reach within striking distance. The club robot on the other hand, had somehow managed to trip over one of its fallen 'comrades', the figure guessed he had a few minutes before the robot could gather itself. Finally, he realized that he was quite close to Sonic's camp, so he would have to keep the noise down.

By this time, the clawed robot was ready to attack him. It drew back its claw and aimed for the figure's head. He did not move however. He knew that if he did not move now, he would not be able to dodge to the sides, but he didn't want to, so it did not matter. The robot mistook the figure's silence and lack of movement for surrender and it lowed its claw.

"Do you wish to-"

Not giving the robot a chance to finish, the figure raised the sharp end of his pole, and with a short yell, he drove it into the robot's head. Bleeping in what the figure could only guess as its death throes, it lashed out with both its claws. The figure ducked under the robot's arm, causing both claws to stick into the wood of the tree. Beeping again, the robot tried and failed to extract its claws. The figure came up behind the robot and moved into striking position. He raised his second piece of the pole and, with strength he did not know he had, plunged it through the robot's metal back. He backed off then as the robot fell.

_'Four down,' _he realized, slightly surprised,_ 'and two to go.'_

Turning swiftly, he was just in time to see the sharp pole of the E-900 head straight towards his chest.

Jumping to the side desperately, he managed to make the pole miss his chest, however, his arm was not so lucky.

_"Ahh!"_ He cried, grasping the wounded arm. The spear had not gone through arm, however, it had scratched deep into it. The figure did not have time to nurse his wound, as he was forced to roll away as the spear came crashing down were his head had been.

_'I seem to be doing a lot of rolling today,'_ he thought, trying to make light of the situation. However, when he tried to smile at his own joke, it came out as more of a grimace. Standing quickly and still grasping his arm, the figure stumbled backwards, trying to bring space between him and the E-900. He stumbled on a loose branch and fell backwards, twisting his ankle slightly as he did. Losing his temper slightly the figure cursed.

"Dammit," he cried, a little too loudly. "I just can't do this. I've had my powers forever, yet I can't use them without being seen." He let out a loud breath of air angrily. "Oh sure, Sonic gets to stay all nice and tucked in inside his shelter with his family, one that he was lucky to even have! Meanwhile, I'm out here, in the rain, fighting for his life! Of course, I'm just lucky the robots didn't notice Sonic, or else the whole word will succumb to Robotnik's tyranny. Great, my life has SO much meaning." The figure stopped his ranting then. He realized how out-of-character he sounded and immediately chastised himself.

_'Stop this childishness. You are not here to be selfish, you are here to follow your purpose. It was whet you were created for, it was what **she** wanted, and **she** is the most important person in your pathetic excuse of a life. Even if you do it for no other reason than for **her,** you should do it.'_

He stood up then, fresh conviction shinning in his eyes. He realized then what he had to do. Reaching back into a pouch that hung at his side with his good hand, he pulled out a shiny green emerald.

_'Hmm, you will do. I just hope I have enough energy to pull this off. It is a good thing that there is only two of those guys left.'_

So lost was the figure in his thoughts that he failed to see something dark and cloaked poke its head out from under a rocky outcrop. The cloaked stranger waited for a second, then disappeared back under the shadows of the outcrop.

Throughout this, the figure had eyes only for his emerald. He lifted his head suddenly, eyes narrowed and hate flashing at the two robots, which were now very close to reaching him. "You know," he said softly, "you brought this on yourselves."

The figure held the emerald high above his head and spoke only two words.

"Chaos, CONTROL!"

Bright green light flashed from the emerald and tendrils of magic snaked around his body, drawing power from it. He sagged slightly, but still held strong as the spell was cast. Two seconds past and the world froze. The robots stopped moving, the wind stopped blowing and the rain was suspended as tiny crystals hanging in the air. Stepping forward, the figure stumbled slightly as he felt the energy drain from him more and more for every second he held the spell. 'I must work quickly. I must fulfill Maria's wish.' This was his mantra as he made his way to the E-900.

Nearing the robot, the figure could see a small compartment at the back of the frozen monster. Stepping in front of it, he pried it open and reached in. For a second, he found nothing, then, he felt his fingers brush against something soft. Surprised at this, he carefully pulled out the object.

_'What is something **soft **doing in this monster?'_

To his amazement, it was a bird. It wasn't even a flicky, it was very small, fitting comfortably into the palm of his hand. It had feathers the color of inky blackness, However, even in the moonlight the figure could see small glimmers of blue and red between the black. The bird itself looked exhausted, and the figure could not blame it. Its energy had been used to power a monstrous robot. He would have to see whether the bird was alright later though, his energy was nearly gone and he still had one robot to take care of. After placing the tiny being carefully into his pouch, where it would not be reached by the rain, he shoved himself off the tree he had been leaning on and stumbled towards the last club-bearing robot. He scooped up the pole of one of the fallen robots and quickly thrust it into the middle section of the robot. He did not have to worry about hurting anything since Robotnik only used animals to power his larger robots.

'_There,'_ he thought,_ 'all done. It was as easy as making pie…'_

His strength failed him and the figure dropped to his knees. He felt the spell lose its hold on him and he fell forward as it let go. He felt as though a large pressure had been removed from his chest. Around him, the world returned to normal and he felt the ground shake around him as the E-900 fell.

Standing slowly, and dragging the pole he used to skewer the other robot with him, he walked painfully towards the E-900, his arm trailing blood the entire way. Slowly he pulled himself into the vision of the fallen robot. He paused as he felt the failing scanners attempt to look him over.

"Unidentified… Unidentified… unidentified" the robot beeped uselessly. "… iden-tify…"

The figure paused for a second, then smirked as an old memory of his first meeting with a certain blue hedgehog resurfaced.

"My name is Shadow. I am the world's ultimate lifeform."

He then thrust his pole through the face screen or the robot. Without another word, he turned and fled; white scarf whipping thrrught the darkness in the wake of his disappearing form.

* * *

**End Chapter**

* * *

THAT'S ALL!! Actually, I was thinking of ending it at the part where Shadow sees the spear of the E-900 about to run him through. But then, I figured that you guys had already had enough waiting for this chapter, and if I made you wait any longer, you would probably kill me… so I continued it. Anyway, how many of you thought Shadow was the figure? I mean BEFORE this chapter ('cause in this chappie I kinda made it PAINFULLY obvious). I know some of you did, but how 'bout the rest of you?

Oh! And one last note: I got the line "puts a damper on our relationship" from a movie called "The Princess Bride". Anyway, for those of you who've seen the movie, you know what I'm talking about, as for the rest of you… well… don't pay any mind to my rambling.

Anyway, I shall end it here, and let us all hope I do not take another half a year to update… heh…

TBC


	8. Truth, Deception and Truthful Lies

**Lost Memories, Reborn Evil**

_Sholay_

Wow, now this IS a surprise isn't it? I don't believe any of you out there believed that I would return and to be quite honest, I struggled with the notion of dropping this story myself.

I started this story when I was 13. Four years have passed since then and nothing about me has changed so much as my writing style… at least, that would be my opinion. As a reason for not continuing this story, well the only possible reason (not excuse) would be that life finally decided to pick up its ball and chain and whack me around the head. I survived High School, got into University and had to make some life changing decisions as well as deal with the various problems that exist in daily life.

After two years without an update, is it really any surprise that I was considering quitting? I had no idea where this was going, I still don't, and I wondered if it would be kinder to all you wonderful, supportive reviewers (yes, even the one who punched me in the nose) to just simply lay this to rest. But then I read it again, and I realized that I really do like this story, and would be proud to finish it (no matter how long it may take).

What really helped me though, was seeing that even after so long; even after the blatant HOLD which was slowing turning into a DISCONTINUED, I still received two reviews, and am still on a select few's favorites list.

So, (raises wine glass) here's to you, the guiding hands that finally helped this one pick herself up off the dusty floor:

**Skittles the Sugar Fairy, Xylin, RockFox, Kinda-Mayvelle, Blazin Shadow, Shatterstrike and windflame**

And, of course, those from MediaMiner: **xoknucklesxo** **and maniathehedgehog**

_Disclaimer: _I do not own Sonic.

(takes a sip of her pepsi) Here we go.

* * *

**Chapter 7: **"Truth, Deception and Truthful Lies"

' ,' ,' ,' ,' ,

_LAST TIME_

' ,' ,' ,' ,' ,

Standing slowly, and dragging the pole he used to skewer the other robot with him, he walked painfully towards the E-900, his arm trailing blood the entire way. Slowly he pulled himself into the vision of the fallen robot. He paused as he felt the failing scanners attempt to look him over.

"Unidentified… Unidentified… unidentified" the robot beeped uselessly. "… iden-tify…"

The figure paused for a second, then smirked as an old memory of his first meeting with a certain blue hedgehog resurfaced.

"My name is Shadow. I am the world's ultimate lifeform."

He then thrust his pole through the face screen or the robot. Without another word, he turned and fled, his fluttering white scarf just disappearing into the darkness as a pair of green eyes opened not too far away.

' ,' ,' ,' ,' ,

NOW

' ,' ,' ,' ,' ,

"Augh!"

CLANG

"Ow!"

Sonic had been searching for a good few hours by now and he still hadn't found anything of importance. In fact, the only thing he had managed to stumble across were a few destroyed robots. It wasn't uncommon to find robotic parts strewn across the plantation, especially this close to Robotropolis. Robotnik constantly discarded old and useless robots, and since he had no place to put them he usually threw the remains into the surrounding area.

In an attempt to vent his anger he had lashed out at one of the heaps of metal. Now, in addition to his fuming brain, he had a throbbing foot.

_Great, I come out here to find my stalker and all I get is a bunch of trashed robots…_

…_Wait a minute…_

Sonic peered at the robot closest to him, a vicious looking monster with 12-inch claws to match. The robot didn't look old at all. Sonic would have even gone so far as to say that it was completely new. It was at that moment that he began noticing certain details about the robot that the darkness had obscured before.

These 'certain details' included a large hole in the robot's midsection.

"Hmm…" Sonic knelt and brushed the metal with his fingertips.

_It seems as though my stalker left me a present._

Sonic stood once more, fresh conviction shining in his eyes. He hadn't found what he had been looking for, but he had found the next best thing. He was positive now that Knuckles, being his normal anti-social self, had not wanted to show himself to Sonic. Instead the incorrigible Echidna preferred to follow the group from the shadows.

_He must have seen the group of robots heading this way, and instead of worrying us he took care of them himself. He really is a good friend… wait, did he think that me, Manic and Sonia were too weak to handle these robots ourselves?!_

Sonic was a bit peeved at this thought, but pushed it away by reasoning that he could always get Knuckles back later.

_I could just tell everyone that he has a crush on Amy._ Sonic thought, while restraining himself from smiling wickedly and rubbing his hands together in an imitation of Robotnik during one of his insane rampages.

After a few seconds of thoughtful daydreaming, Sonic pulled himself out of his thoughts and returned his attention to what he now saw as a battlefield.

"Hm", he said again "Let's see if we can find out just what happened here…"

Sonic whisked around the scene lightly, stepping over the strange dark spots that he assumed were oil. He inspected everything and sometimes crawled on all fours, hands spread in front oh himself, feeling the ground.

"Let's see, Knuckles was here, then he rolled over there, and the robot was… here, here and here? No, that's not right. There were how many robots? One, two, three… Woah!"

At this moment, Sonic's eyes fell on the E-900.

"What is that?"

He swept his eyes over the monster. That was when he noticed the blood. Eyes widening, and breath catching in his throat, Sonic quickly scanned the area and realized that what he had at first dismissed as oil was actually the blood of one of his best friends.

"You did all that so they wouldn't see us Knuckles… you fool." The insult was empty though and even as he said it his eyes shone with worry. New respect for Knuckles washed over him as he realized the Echidna had not only taken out six robots while he and his siblings were enjoying themselves, but for doing it while he was injured.

Looking around himself, Sonic noticed that there was still a few things that didn't make sense. The robots were fairly spaced out in their resting places, despite the fact that each one had obviously fallen only seconds apart from each other, considering they were all warm. Robots cooled down just minutes after they were defeated, Sonic had found this out when he had attempted to start a campfire from a wire off a robot. As well, the blood spots were widely spaced, despite the fact that the wound had obviously been a deep one, according to the amount of blood on the spear of the E-900. In order to manage to do all this Knuckles would have had to have moved extremely fast.

_Almost as fast as me…_

There was also one other suspicious thing about the field. Sonic had noticed a flattened area in the moss covered with what he had at that time thought was oil. Now he realized that the oil was not oil but blood instead. That means that Knuckles had landed there. But that couldn't be.

_Why?_

The area surrounding the moss was completely unmarred.

Before, Sonic had assumed that a robot had landed there, leaked a little, then flew out of the moss, because the only way someone could move away from that spot without making any prints around it would have been by flying.

Admittedly, Knuckles could glide, but that wasn't reasonable, considering the fact that he'd just been speared by a robot.

It was as though Knuckles had just disappeared off the face of the earth for a few seconds only to reappear next to the E-900.

_Oh well, I guess I'll have to ask him about it later._

It was getting late and Sonic was getting bored trying to comprehend things that made not sense. Thinking had never been his specialty. In the past he always left those types of things to Sally, Tails and Knuckles. Now, in the present, he left them to Sonia, always preferring instead to act first and deal the problems as they arrive.

_Heh, I guess some things really don't change._

Sonic headed back to his camp silently.

_Tomorrow we arrive at Robotropolis. I have to be careful now and take more notice of my surroundings. I doubt that Knuckles is willing to take another hit like that for me. I just wish that he would show up so I could SEE how bad the wound is, maybe even bandage it. Heh, who am I kidding, Knuckles always was and always will be a loner, I don't think he'd be able to handle all the attention. It's not like I'd be able to find him on my own though, the guy's like a shadow when he puts his mind to it…_

So lost was he in his thoughts that he failed to notice a small metal, disk-like floating robot fly away from the scene, it's red light flashing with what would have been considered excitement, had the robot been alive.

* * *

The Next Day

* * *

"Ack! My hair!"

"Ahh! Sonia, watch where you stomp! That was my foot!"

"Sigh."

The three triplets were having an extremely slow start this day, even though they had woken up over an hour ago. The day itself was beautiful. The sun was shinning brightly in the wake of last day's rain, as though it was apologizing for not coming out the day before. The grass and tress glittered with raindrops and the air was thick and heavy with humidity. All in all it was a day that appealed to the laziest part of a person.

In spite of all this, Sonic had gotten, quoting his old self, a "major reality check" the last day and he wasn't about to give Robotnik the chance to sneak up on him again. They were too close to Robotropolis for his liking, and he wanted to get past it as soon as possible. He needed no more proof from Robotnik of the return of his past life's memory. The advanced technology of the E-900 he saw the night before had been enough proof.

_Maybe even too much proof_. Sonic thought worriedly, as he watched Sonia fight with her hair and Manic hop around on one foot. _I don't like thinking of all the damage Robotnik could do if he managed to create a monster like that in one day. If Knuckles had trouble bringing him down, a city of poor mobians won't stand a chance against that hunk of metal._

_Is it possible that 'buttnik has become the smart genius he was in my time? But even the Robotnik of my time would not have been able to create these monsters in such a short time. This…mad genius of the past and the 'buttnik of the present are completely different. He changed much more than I did with the time change, but why?_

These thoughts were irrelevant and unimportant though, and Sonic shook his head to dispel them. It would do no good to find out how the problem was created, all that mattered is that there IS a problem and now he had to fix it by finding the chaos emeralds. The past didn't matter, only the present did.

…_but if we had known Shadow's past sooner…_

"Sonia! Manic! Are you two ready yet? We have to go!" Sonia and Manic frowned at the cloaked figure of their brother. First he had ruined their fun yesterday. Second, uncharacteristically woken both of them up EARLY! Now he was unusually eager to start off, without breakfast. Again!

They exchanged glances then Sonia stepped forward, not having succeeded in fixing her hair, the disheveled look made her a little, if not very intimidating. Sonic didn't flinch though; with his new found knowledge he found that there are many things in life scarier then a peeved sister. None the less, he could not fight his instinct to flinch slightly, preparing himself for the worst.

"Listen, Sonic. I know you're always eager to kick Robotnik's butt, god knows Manic and I are too, but there is something wrong here. Manic and I aren't stupid Sonic, we noticed right from the beginning. We just chose not to say anything."

"There were only small things at first, you know." Sonic's hooded head turned ever so slightly to face Manic, who's calm, quiet voice had interrupted Sonia's steadily rising tone. "Little things… like your not being hungry, or like you being more quiet then usual-"

"But last night was over the top." Sonia cut in, and Sonic who had seen this coming sighed mentally.

This was wasting too much time.

"Look, I apologized for that-" he began, but was quickly cut off.

"Yes," said Sonia, "but it's not just that. You're not acting like yourself! You… wake us all up early, you don't eat and you brood too much! What's wrong with you? Did you get turned into a robot or something?" Sonia's voice had now reached an alarming pitch just shy of a yell and she had begun to wave her arms about erratically.

Sonic started. He had not been expecting that. Manic, sensing Sonic's reaction quickly tried to calm Sonia.

"Sonia-".

"No, Manic. We have a right to know what's going on, and if he is a robot, then it's obvious he wasn't completely turned, I mean, he still has his free will. We can help him!"

"Sonia-".

"-And if he HASN'T been turned into a robot then I want to know why he continues to wear that damn cloak!"

Sonic was honestly surprised; he hadn't expected his siblings to react this strongly. Maybe he should have told them about the change sooner. But then again, if he had, they may have thought he was an imposter… The question now though, was: should he tell them the truth now?

"Sonia, I don't think we should force him-"

"We have a right to know! I mean, don't you even wonder what he has under there? It didn't even come off during the rain and wind yesterday!"

This was true, Sonic realizes and he gripped the clasp of the cloak, the hood hadn't slipped once. It truly was a special gift.

"Sonia… Manic…"

The words were soft and hardly audible, but they had the desired effect. Both brother and sister halted their bantering to stare at Sonic.

"Look, I admit, something has changed."

"Ha!" Cried Sonia triumphantly, "I was right!"

Manic was more concerned about Sonic, "what has changed, Sonic? You're not-"

"No, Manic." Sonic spoke in the same quiet voice. "Here, I'll prove it."

Sonic slowly undid the clasp at his throat and swept off the cloak, gathering the folds on his left arm. He then pulled off the goggles.

_Chuck Knuckles' warning, I know what I'm doing, and after what I saw last night I'm more sure than ever of this. We can't afford any more delays, and if this will make them move faster, then so be it. I trust my family, and if anyone deserves to know the truth, they do._

Sonia and Manic stared at him, slack jawed, in shock. The differences, though slight, were monumental to those who knew Sonic as well as they did.

"Sonic!?" They both cried in unison, there was no way this tall, cobalt blue hedgehog with bottle green eyes, carrying himself with the pale aura of quiet determination was their immature, slouching, thick-headed older brother.

"No way!"

"Who are you—"

"And what have you done to our twin?!"

"Give him back—"

"Now—"

"Or we'll use force!"

Sonic smiled slightly, if he had been in any other situation, his brother and sister's reactions would have been funny. Honestly, this was probably the first time he had ever seen them backing each other, now they were finishing each other's sentences!

"What happened to you?" Asked Sonia, Manic remained quiet.

"Well it's a long story…" He answered truthfully, shrugging.

"We have time."

"No actually, we don't. Listen, I know you want to know what's going on, but I can't tell you yet." Sonic, seeing Sonia getting ready to protest raised a hand. "Wait, I really do know what I'm doing, and you need to trust me, please. I can't explain it, but I just know that I can't tell you anything yet. I know I look a lot different, but I'm still me and you must to believe that… at least for a little longer." He added to himself.

"Prove it." Was Manic's quiet ultimatum.

Sonic took a breath. _Right, well they asked for it._ "Ok, so you remember when I showed you that picture of my Uncle Chuck, right?"

They both nodded.

"Well… Sonia, before you knew who he was you asked me, and I quote:" Sonic took on a mock falsetto "'Oh Sonic! Who's the cute guy you're next to? He looks a little old, but I like older men!—'"

"Ok! Stop right there!" Sonia cut through Sonic's reiteration loudly, her face burning with embarrassment.

Sonic did stop and stared at her with an insufferable grin, while Manic looked at Sonia with something in between horror and amusement. "You …what?" He choked.

_Oh, you're next._ Sonic thought mischievously. "Oh and Manic, remember that night at the city _Pergionne_ where that… weasel right?… What _was_ his name?" Sonic paused dramatically, letting Manic remember exactly what night he was talking about. Sure enough, after a few seconds, Manic's eyes widened palpably. "Ohh yes," Sonic tapped his mouth with two fingers. "I remember, _Dino_. Yes, he was so drunk he rather thought your dreadlocks feminine, and rather _attract—_"

"ALRIGHT!" Manic interjected loudly, while Sonia meanwhile pressed Sonic to continue ("I never heard this story!") "I believe you!" Manic stressed, looking pointedly at Sonia, "Cause that was the whole _point, right?_ To see if it's really him?"

"Oh… " Sonia deflated. "Right."

"Don't worry." Sonic leaned down to whisper into Sonia's ear behind Manic's back. "I'll tell you the whole story later." Sonia brightened considerably after this, and Sonic chuckled, then continued, "You do believe me now, right?" His tone, was light, but still held a hint of worry.

"I… do, I guess." Sonia answered hesitantly.

"Good." Sonic sighed. "Then we can go."

"I guess." Sonia repeated. "I'm going to comb my hair first though. I'll be ready in a couple of minutes."

"Thanks." Sonic said earnestly, to both of them, _for believing in me._ They might joke around, but Manic and Sonia really we the best sibs a guy could have.

Sonia walked quickly away to groom, and silence reigned under the outcrop. Sonic and Manic were left staring at each other. Sonic was starting to feel a little uneasy under Manic's guarded gaze.

"Manic?" He questioned the shorter hedgehog.

"Sonic," started the other "-you said something to me the other day. You told me that this journey of yours will bring us closer to finding Mother. Were you telling the truth?"

Sonic felt as though someone had squeezed his heart. He REALLY hadn't been expecting that question. Somehow though, he knew what to say.

"You know what Manic? I wasn't lying to you. I do think this journey may help us find Mother. I just need you to wait and hold on a little longer, can you do that, for me?" Sonic waited breathlessly for Manic to answer him. He hoped that he hadn't said anything wrong.

The green hedgehog was looking downwards, and a few tense seconds passed between them. Then, Manic raised his head and to Sonic's relief there was a smile on it.

"Yeah, I guess that's cool Sonic. I trust ya." He said slowly, the smile faded a little. "You better not be jerking me around on this one, ok bro? This is serious."

Sonic let out a breath he hadn't know he was holding in. "It took you long enough!" Sonic then caught Manic's eyes with his own and held them. "Trust me. I know what I'm doing, you know I wouldn't joke about this."

"Yeah, well it's not every day one of your two closest relatives shows up half a foot taller than he was the day before!"

"Is that the only difference?" Sonic asked feigning shock.

"It's the only redeeming one."

"HEY!"

"Come on boys, we have some bad guy beating to do!" Sonia said suddenly, interrupting what probably would have ended up in a mud fight.

Sonic pulled away from Manic and the smile dropped off his face as he remembered the gravity of the situation. They had to get those emeralds before Mecha did!

"Sonia's right. We've got to go. There's only one more thing though. Neither of you can mention my changes to ANYONE. OK?"

Sonia and Manic exchanged glances over Sonic's sudden change in mood, but they trusted his decision, so they nodded. Sonic was satisfied with their answer and quickly replaced his cloak and goggles.

A few minutes later the rocky outcrop was nothing more than a speck of darkness in the distance.

As he ran, Sonic couldn't help but ponder over the day's events. He couldn't understand why Knuckles had wanted him to keep his appearance a secret, though he assumed that Knuckles must have thought Sonia and Manic didn't trust him enough to believe him when he said his appearance had changed.

That guy was always too suspicious and distrustful.

What confused the cobalt hedgehog even further why he never told Sonia and Manic about his past life.

_I guess it was just the wrong moment, I really didn't have the time._

Not a long time had passed before they reached the high, rusted, dead-looking walls of Robotropolis. Sonia and Manic prepared themselves for a halt but Sonic kept going.

"HEY!" A voice called to his right. Sonic looked over at Sonia who was hanging from his right hand.

"What? Did you drop your hat?" He asked, annoyed at her.

"NO! I THOUGHT WE WERE STOPPING HERE!" she yelled.

Quicker than lightning, Sonic had pulled the three of them into the shade of an overhang. The three of them huddled into the darkness and crouched low.

"Shhhh!" He hissed. "Not so loud! Now, what did you want?"

"I thought we were stopping here!" Sonia repeated in a hissed whisper, slightly irritated at Sonic's sudden and uncalled for bossy attitude. That was HER area.

"Change of plans." Sonic replied shortly. "Turns out Robotnik's after someTHING, and we're gonna get it before he does."

"And you know that how?" Asked Manic.

"That was the plan I told you I found out."

"Then why did you want to come here in the first place?" Sonia asked suspiciously, with her arms folded.

"I wanted to make sure."

"Make sure what?"

"That the tip was not phony." All of Sonic's answers were short and terse. It was obvious he thought this conversation a waste of time.

Sonia still wanted answers though. "So what changed?"

"I know it isn't phony."

"How?"

"I went out scouting last night and I found some robots. If Buttnik's sending goons after us we must be on the right track."

Sonia and Manic reluctantly accepted this answer, since Sonic refused to budge on the matter. They once again grabbed Sonic's hands and prepared themselves for the run. But Sonic had barely even broken out into a jog before Sonic once again called out to Sonic.

"WHAT?!" Sonic practically shouted, highly annoyed now. They had gotten far enough away from the city to reach the foliage and now that they were hiding under the trees with no possibility of prying robot eyes, Sonic felt the need to express his anger verbally.

"Augh, chill already, Sonic! Geez, you may have gotten more serious, but your attitude hasn't changed a bit. Relax! I thought I saw someone."

Sonic and Manic perked up at that.

"Who was it?" Asked Manic.

"Was it a mobian or a robot?" Asked Sonic right after.

"I don't know who it was, but…I think it was a mobian…there!" She pointed excitedly at two small heaps on the ground not too far away and in a flash she had run to the fallen mobians, Manic close on her heels. Sonic, with renewed caution, followed a few steps behind and took the time to observe the fallen couple more closely.

It appeared as though only one of the two was injured and the other was hovering over the first. The one on the ground was a common ferret, brown and dusty, probably from one of the lower levels of the city; the couple had probably been sent out to gather fruits and had been attacked by something. From this far away Sonic couldn't tell how bad the injury was but the ferret's companion was paying close attention to his right ankle in particular.

Speaking of the companion, Sonic's heart jolted as his eyes lay on a figure that he had seen so many times, yet was now so unfamiliar.

The color of the coat, and the large ears were unmistakable, Sonic could have picked his rabbit friend out of a crowd any day. But then his eyes roamed downwards, and instead of a metal arm he saw real fur, flesh and bone, instead of armored legs—the result of a terrible mistake with even worse consequences—were real limbs, with whitened fur on the feet. How long had it been since he'd seen his friend like that?

Unconsciously, is steps had quickened, and before he had realized it, he had reached out and grabbed the rabbit's shoulder, spinning her around, he had to know—had to see—

"Bunnie?"

Green eyes, watery with tears, blinked up at him in confusion.

"I—I'm sorry, hun, but I don't know who your talking about. The name's Scarlett, Scarlett O'Hare." Suddenly, she blinked again, as though realizing where she was and her eyes turned suspicious. "An' who are you? What do you want?" She took a protective stance over her downed friend that was so nostalgic of the old Bunnie, that Sonic was momentarily speechless with shock.

_If this works, and we're thrown into a rip in the time continuum, then there is a great chance we may never go back to the world we remember. Random events, and even constructed ones, will be indelibly changed by the interference we create. People could grow up completely differently, lives could alter, entire civilizations could be wiped out. And here's the clincher—**no one will know.**__No one will even know that things have changed, because they will not have the memories of the original time. No one but us..._

Tail's words floated through Sonic's mind and immediately he jerked back from Bunnie—no Scarlett—as though burned. He glanced around and saw Sonia and Manic staring at him as though he was crazy.

"'M sorry," he murmured quietly. "Mistook you for someone else." While he took the time to compose himself, mentally convincing himself that the golden rabbit in front of him was _not_ the Bunnie he knew, no matter what he thought; Sonia was proclaiming their intent to help.

"He was stung," Bunnie's—_Scalett's—_eyes were misting over again as she understood that the triplets were not there to cause harm, and the reality of the situation once again set in. She gestured to the ferret on the ground, who was sweating and twitching in obvious discomfort. "Bathin is burning up with fever, I don't know what to do."

From Sonia and Manic's silence, it was obvious that they too, did not know what to do.

Sonic's eyes flashed as a scene—long since forgotten—now came to his mind:

**_---A Different Time, A Different Place---_**

_Knuckles rapped him sharply on the skull._

"_Hey!" Sonic yelped jumping away from the offending hand. "Whaddaya do that for?"_

"_Just wanted to see if your head sounded as hollow as you make it seem." Knuckles smirked, and chuckled at him._

"_OIE!"_

"_Honestly Sonic," Knuckles had adopted his 'I'm-gonna-lecture-you-'cause-I-think-you-just-did-something-stupid' voice. "I don't know what you think you were doing out there. The jungles out here are swarming with red Hottentotta hottentotta, and you—"_

"_Ah ha! You're kidding me right? Hottentotta hottentotta? Sounds like some sort of dance!" As if in explanation, Sonic broke out into a short jig, and was rewarded with another rap on his head._

"_OIE!"_

"_Honestly," Knuckles, rolled his eyes, "Sometimes I wonder having all those spikes on your head caused some of them to extend INTO your skull."_

"_Well, Mr. Smarty-Pants, lets not forget that you have spikes too!"_

"_But you have to agree, mine are much more stylish!"_

_Knuckles' offhand comment was met by an unamused glare. Suddenly, Knuckles' grin was gone, as fast as it had come._

"_Scorpions, Sonic!" He shouted. Sonic pulled back._

"_What are you babbling about?"_

"_I'm serious, Sonic! That forest out there is crawling with scorpions. What if you'd gotten stung!"_

"_I'm too fast—"_

_Knuckles shoved him lightly. "If I'm fast enough to do that, then you my friend are most certainly not safe. One sting Sonic, one sting with no one there to save you, and you're dead."_

_Sonic paled a little. He knew well enough when the time for joking was over. "What do you do?"_

_Knuckles sat down on a nearby rock and plucked a small plant from the ground. He held it out to Sonic..._

**_---Present---_**

In a flash, Sonic had fallen to his knees near the ferret. Lifting the affected limb, he inspected the wound, Scorpion sting, that was both good and bad. He tugged off his hood and listened to the mobian's breathing, relief surged through him when he failed to hear a wet wheeze in his exhalation. There was still time. He spun around and ignored Scarlett's gasp of recognition.

"You're—"

He cut her off with a wave. "I know." he said shortly. "There'll be time for that later. Right now we need to hurry. Sonia, you know what spearleaf is, right?"

She nodded hesitantly.

"I need you to find some, quickly. It'll be in the shade somewhere, near a rock or a tree. Go!" He added the last part forcefully when she failed to move right away. As Sonia went to her task, Sonic turned to Manic.

"I need you to start a fire, now." Manic nodded, sensing the urgency, immediately went to work.

"Bun-er-Scarlett," Sonic shook his head at the correction, annoyed with himself, _this was not Bunnie_. "Do you have a pot, pestle, some water and a cloth?"

After a few moments of rummaging, suitable items were found and Sonic soon had Scarlett sponging her friend's forehead, trying to keep the fever down. Sonic himself joined Soina in the hunt for spearplant and when they had gathered enough her ground the leaves into a powder using a clay spoon (they had no pestle) in the bowl. He added some water and created a mushy paste. This green paste was then heated on the fire.

"It won't be long now" Sonic said absently, not really caring if Bunnie was listening or not, he had to make sure the solution didn't boil, or else it would be ruined. "You feed this to him slowly when it's done, his fever should break by nightfall."

"I don't know how to thank you." Bunn-Scarlett-said gratefully, "If you hadn't come."

"Don't worry about it, we're glad to help!" Sonia put in enthusiastically.

"But suga-hog, there must be—"

Sonic had stopped listening. _Suga-hog_.Suddenly it all became very real to him. His old life was over. The people he knew no longer knew him. Bunnie, Antoine...Sally...

A single bubble rose from the spearleaf paste and with a gasp, Sonic grabbed at the bowl, hissing and nearly dropping it as the clay bowl burn his fingers through his gloves.

"Sonic!" Came the concerned shouts.

With a silent curse, Sonic let the bowl fall safely into the ground then quickly took the spoon and prodded the stuff. _Good, it's still good._ He let out a breath. That was close, he didn't think Bathin, the ferret, could have survived the time it would have taken to make another batch.

Soon, the paste had been forced down the sick ferret's throat and as he rested fitfully, but recovering, the other mobians fell to the ground nearby, exhausted after that trying ordeal.

"Thank you," Scarlett intoned emotionally once more.

"Don't worry about it," Sonic said off handedly, he rose then and brushed off the cloak. "But we really should be going."

Manic and Sonia didn't move and Sonic nearly groaned aloud in frustration.

"What is it _now_?"

"Sonic-..." Manic began hesitantly.

"Sonic, they'll be here until nightfall, it won't be safe around here then, we should help them back into the city." Sonia stated bluntly.

Sonic paused. This was true. Unfortunately though Bunnie had been formidable, he doubted Scarlett would have the same advantages, and Bathin couldn't be moved until his fever broke. He could leave and go off on his own, but who knew what trouble Manic and Sonia would get into in the city? Great, they were stuck here.

Sonic fell back onto the ground with an audible sigh.

Silence befell the group.

"So..." Scarlett's eyes fell on Sonic, and he found himself glancing away from those familiar green eyes, starring at him as though he were a zoo creature. "You really are Sonic, aren't you?"

"Yeah," He drawled, glancing at her, pulling his legs towards himself, indian style. "What of it?"

"Sonic..." came Sonia's predictable warning voice. Sonic ignored her; he had the right to be rude.

Scarlett fidgeted awkwardly. "It's nothing, you just seemed... familiar somehow, hun, are you sure we haven't met, suga? And why didja call me Bunnie earlier?"

Sonic looked away, eyes hooded. "No, we haven't met. And I made a mistake."

Silence fell once more.

"Sonic," Manic's voice slide into the silence upsetting it waveringly. "How... how did you know what to do... with the bite?"

"Sting," Sonic corrected idly. "A friend taught me." His tone was final.

"Oh..."

Nightfall was long in coming.

' ,' ,' ,' ,' ,

"His fever broke!" Scarlett's voice was an excited whisper in the twilight; with the rapidly disappearing sun had gone their courage to speak freely as well, unwelcome attention was best avoided, not to mention the fact that Sonic's mood hadn't exactly improved since the morning.

_Another day, wasted!_ He mentally berated himself. They may never catch up to Metal Sonic now... _And if Robotnik got his greasy hands on the chaos emeralds..._

Slowly, he became aware of someone shaking his shoulder.

"Sonic, c'mon" Manic whispered urgently. "We're all packed, we need to go now."

Sonic nodded and rose. Without a word, he held out his hand, and waited until it was grasped firmly. Then with the other hand, he reached down and flung Bathin's sleeping body securely over his shoulder, but not before pulling his goggles and hood back on.

Within seconds they had arrived at the heavy metal doors of Robotropolis. The metal doors glistened in the fading light before them and to any normal viewer the place would have looked completely impenetrable.

But the triplets were hardly normal. A quick detour around the wall rewarded them with a small side entrance, and a few smashed robots, and swiped ID bracelets (or robotic arms, as was the case) later, found the small group quickly and quietly navigating themselves through a narrow alley within the city. Eventually, they were able to reach the main street, but when they did, an unpleasant surprise was awaiting them.

"My god..."

* * *

**TBC**

* * *


	9. The Dynamic Duo

**Lost Memories, Reborn Evil**

_Sholay_

Lookie, lookie, I'm still alive!

Reviewer notes are at the end and I don't own Sonic.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 8: **"The Dynamic Duo"

* * *

The city of Acantha was a beautiful place: separated into two districts, one for residence and the other a market—the city flourished as an extremely clean and efficient mini-metropolis. 

Independent of any and all surrounding cities, Acantha grew its own food, maintained its own government, passed its own laws and formed its own style of health care; all of which was made possible by the current state of neutrality it maintained with Robotropolis. The details of the agreement were sketchy at best, but most of the citizens had long since accepted the new regulations and restrictions the mayor had—seemingly without any reason—established. The mobians appreciated that they we not about to be hauled off and roboticized, and in exchange they ignored the new shiny metal factories built just out of town. They ignored the odd, erratic behavior of their elected representative—or rather, the planted puppet. And slowly, the independent city had acquired an unsightly, but overlooked parasite. Ignorance.

It was in this city, in one of the larger houses in fact—a glorious sloping building, whitewashed with the finest lime and gleaming in the sun. Arches grew from the house, enclosing a small courtyard. A larger garden (clean and trimmed with blooming rosemary and wild strawberries) surrounded the house, framed by a perfect square fence and built with perfectly square stones. A heavy iron wrought gate, fashioned with long poles tapered to sharp points and an old-fashioned lock wound between the metal signaled the entrance to the grand villa.

It was in this house that the esteemed Dr. R. J. Sapienti resided with his wife and son.

Now it was once a prime topic of gossip, that Sapienti's son was not in fact his true son.

For while both Sapientis were foxes, with a single tail, their son was rumored to have not only one, but _two_ tails.

Secretly, everyone knew what this meant, but for fear of breaching the contract of neutrality not a word was said on the topic. Dr. Sapienti was frowned on and told repeatedly to get rid of the cursed child but the steadfast fox would not be moved and the child was kept.

For the first few years, the child was kept out of the public's eye. No one saw the abomination, and the government had no proof of the child's existence. Then one day, gossip rose once more: '_Dr. Sapienti took his child to school today…'_ and '_I heard the kid only had **one** tail.'_

It didn't take long for the word to spread around and soon every citizen was shaking their head at their own folly: '_Of course he has only one tail, you hear what happened to that old kind; I doubt any more of **those** are still around.'_

The rumors stopped, and soon the new child: Miles Sapienti, was enfolded into the society, all the seams that showed his hesitant entry were erased and Miles became a proud occupant of the city Acantha.

But that was not the end of the story.

For behind the locked gate of the villa, past the garden and beyond the arches, the servants, staff and family all knew the truth.

Miles Sapienti…Miles _Prowler_, was in truth, a Kitsune: the last living member of a once glorious, and long persecuted, race.

From a very young age, Miles had known that he was different from his parents. He could spot birds in the sky long before his father, could hear his mother coming up the stairs to check on him when she had merely risen from her chair on the floor below and could smell when the food was about to burn just before the cook did.

Then there was the biggest difference: He had an extra tail! His mother and father had only one, but he had two, and sometimes, if he wiggled them jut right he seemed to float a little of the ground!

—Mother certainly hadn't been happy when she'd seen _that_.

When he had just turned three, his mother and father had sat him down for a talk. They had told him a strange thing: that he wasn't their son, that he was adopted, and that he was _different_.

From then on, Miles had learned to keep his tails together, tying them together imperceptibly, and making sure that one never moved without the other. His tail was thicker than most, but he no longer looked like he had two tails.

But though he was allowed to loosen his ties at home, he could never go outside without them. Miles had learned how to fly though, and just once, once, he would have like to fly outside in the free sky…

Then _it_ happened.

* * *

o-o.o.o.o-o

* * *

"Miles Prowler Sapienti! You get down here right now or you are going to be in so much trouble!" 

From the top of the staircase appeared a nose, whiskers, then an eye and an ear as a small face peered around a corner, trying to surreptitiously gauge his Mother's ire.

"Right now, Miles."

"But Mother!" He called, a last attempt to save himself. "I'm busy!"

"I'm _waiting_."

He gulped, he knew what happened when Mother got _that_ tone. Sighing in resignation, he stepped fully around the corner, two tails flapping behind him. With practiced ease he slung himself onto the banister and slid down the spiraling wood beam until he reached the bottom, where he hopped off lightly, ignoring his Mother's startled gasp.

"Miles, I told you not to do that."

The kitsune's nose scrunched in mysterious irritation as his Mother said his name. But he didn't say anything, just shrugged. His Mother raised an eyebrow: usually Miles would have apologized… was this teenage rebellion, or had he just woken up too late? Speaking of which…

"You're woke up very late today, were you awake long last night?" She asked, hinting at a possible lecture for breaking curfew.

"Not really," Was her limited answer. Miles was acting strange today, usually he was the first one up in the morning—his ears were too sensitive to allow him much rest after the birds woke at five—usually he smiled more, responded to her questions. Mother wondered what was going on with her son, but she decided that it could wait; she had another issue to talk about.

"Your teacher called from school." She shot him a pointed look, he gazed back at her with polite concern—not the sharp panic she had expected—she moved on. "She told me that you've been fixing the student's teaching aids again." Each student at Acantha's preparatory school was allowed a small handheld computer, with a three dimensional touch screen and recording device. It also had an inbuilt dictionary—complete with full archives in six different languages—a calculator and a note taking attachment. It was a state of the art, high quality assistor, the iCAN; Acantha was the first city in its district to be allowed these phenomenal tools, as a sort of guinea pig to test out the product.

Truly, Acantha was honored to be chosen to partake in such a privilege. Really, it didn't matter that the attendance rate at school had plummeted, with all the students free to get the teacher's notes online, it didn't matter that the children spent more time playing games on those things than studying and it didn't matter that they kept breaking every couple of months, costing the parents an alarming amount of money to get the required repairs done. For the government didn't pay to fix the devices if the customer broken them: only if the government was responsible for the damage. And the government was certainly _not_ responsible for the damages.

Naturally, Miles, who had always had a certain gift for anything running on batteries, had been _graciously_ lending his skills out to the general population. Unfortunately, the results were sometimes not quite what had been expected, curtsey of Miles' rather unique sense of humor.

"I don't think the students were very happy when their computers spontaneously started bounce around the classroom, bellowing out psychology theorems in Yiddish." She said sternly, but couldn't help the slight twitching at the corner of her lips. She knew Miles was only joking, he usually did something like this just to goof off, then he'd fix them.

The kitsune let out a low chuckle. "Yeah, I did do that, didn't I?" He sounded oddly as though he was surprised with himself. "Well, it's an improvement."

"You'll fix them by tomorrow then?" She asked, just for conformation, but was thrown off when he smirked. Since when did Miles smirk?

"I'll think about it." He said. She frowned.

"_Miles._" She used her 'I'm-serious-so-don't-even-try-to-mess-with-me' tone.

"Don't call me that, Mother!"

Silence fell after that statement. Mother looked at her adoptive son—who she loved completely and utterly, as though he was her own—with shock. He didn't return her look, and kept his eyes stubbornly on a point below her face and to the right.

"Miles, what's gotten into you today?"

"I don't know, I don't know…" His voice sounded heavy and tired, as though he was carrying a heavy burden, nothing like her own carefree son. " I just… I just don't like that name, ok?"

"Since when?" She was honestly surprised. Miles had never had a problem with his name before!

"Since always!" He said, just a little too quickly.

"And just what would you prefer to be called then?" She challenged, half believing he was making up the whole thing to cause a fuss.

His answer was so low she didn't catch it at first.

"What?"

"Tails. I want you to call me Tails." He confessed, finally looking up and straight into her eyes.

A sudden thrill of fear ran through her. "What did you say? Why are you saying this?" She grabbed her son by the shoulders. "That isn't what your friends call you, is it? You haven't been showing them that you… you…"

"I what, Mother?" Tails brushed off his Mother's hands and stepped back, his voice was tight and rose progressively in volume as he spoke. "That I have two tails? That I'm a Kitsune, an abomination of nature? That I, according to this messed up government we have, technically shouldn't exist? No Mother, I didn't tell them. But maybe I should. Maybe they should all know. Why should I hide who am? I'm not afraid of them, if they want to try and take me away, they just let them come and try!" He surged to the front door, but before he could reach it his Mother caught him again.

"Miles NO! What are you thinking? Do you know what will happen to us, to this family, if you tell them you're a, you're a… _kitsune_." She whispered the word and Tails scowled. "They will come and take you away to do God knows what, then they'll kill your Father and me, then they'll probably kill whoever has ever known you, our neighbors, your friends, everyone. You'll destroy the neutrality of this city. Is that what you want?" She grasped him tightly, imploring him. "I don't know what's gotten into you today, but whatever it is, this mood, it will pass. But if you go out there and expose yourself, your choice will be with you _forever_, Miles, please, see sense."

And between her hands Tails seemed to deflate.

"Fine. I'll put on those stupid binds. But Mother one day…" His eyes turned distant and his voice hardened with a conviction that his Mother didn't like. "One day things are going to change." He turned to her and she nearly drew back at how bright his eyes were, they were filled with life and hope, something she hadn't seen within the boundaries of Acantha for a long time. "Robotropolis will fall and when it does we will be free, not this farce." He drew his hand in a sweeping arc, as an inspiring politician does. "But _true_ freedom, to do what we want, say what we want, live how we want, to be able to walk down to the grocer without worrying if we're going to be ordered to go back and hide in our homes because they just blew up another experiment at the plant… to be _free_."

"Miles…" Her voice was hushed, to hear such words was one thing, but to see it happen… "What _has_ gotten into you all of a sudden?"

"I just woke up and realized I shouldn't waste my life on pointless pranks and subservience." Tails answered, a frown crossing his face.

"Miles," She admonished. "We aren't sub-"

"Then what do you call these?" He shoved the thin bands he used to clip his tails together in front of her. She said nothing. Tails snorted, then slide the bands slowly over his tails, ignoring how they seemed to twitch with discomfort. "The cuffs don't have to be on my wrists to be binding."

"Miles…" She didn't know what else to say.

"It's ok Mother. I understand. I won't do anything stupid, alright?" He headed towards the door.

"Promise me." She blurted out, clutching her hands together, she could feel it within herself. Something bad was coming, she needed this promise.

"I promise, Mother, I won't do anything without proper cause." And before she could say another word Tails grabbed his leather jacket off the hook and swept out of the house, his tails, bound as one, waving in the threshold just before the door closed.

* * *

o-o.o.o.o-o

* * *

Tails stepped out into the open, taking his first breath of fresh air since _it_ had happened. 

"It feels _good_ to be back on Earth!" He exclaimed out loud, resisting the urge to tear off those stupid binds and fly into the air. He hadn't been able to experience true flight for ages. Flying was much more difficult in zero gravity, it ended up more like floating. It might have been alright for Knuckles, he spent have his life gliding around, and Sonic, who could practically create his own field of gravity… but for Tails, the feeling of moving yourself through the air—not the air moving you—nothing holding you down, or back, was so incredibly empowering.

But there were other matters to attend to. Tails brought himself back to the present. After that rather _enlightening_ dream last night—he still didn't understand the rippling darkness thing, a bit overdone, if he did say so himself—he knew what he had to do: number one: find the infamous triplets, children the former Queen Aleena.

_'Good grief, Sonic's Royalty,'_ Tails chuckled, _'who woulda seen **that** one coming? I wonder what Sally will say when…'_ Tails then remembered: he had been right about the time warp, about them eventually remembering, he was probably right about no one else having the slightest clue about the time change. Only those on the ARK would remember…

_'Okay, number two: find everyone else. How hard could that be?'_ Tails knew he was being optimistic, but it was the best he could do for now. _'And number three, find those chaos emeralds.'_ It seemed like his whole previous life was a long struggle to find the chaos emeralds. He often wondered why they couldn't just smash the dratted things and end this eternal search. Years had passed, they had traveled across timelines and STILL everyone was out for the chaos emeralds.

_'You'd think Robotnik would find something NEW to chase after.'_ Tails groused, pulling on his jacket and a pair of white gloves. Then he stepped up to his motorized bicycle, letting his eyes roam it's features in regard, as though seeing it fully for the first time.

_'You never fully appreciate what you've got, until you know what it's like to go without.'_ He thought in wonder, as he remembered living without even electricity or running water in the woods with the freedom fighters. His first piece of technology was that old red Tornado, and that he'd fastidiously built with his own two hands.

_'That was a really long time ago…' _He realized, then mounted the red bike, which, coincidentally, also had the word _'Tornado'_ tattooed in its back. He thrust his foot down, kicking it to life.

_'The biggest problem is going to be leaving this town, I can't just abandon Mother and Father… Really, I've wanted parents for so long, now that I have them, I'm trying to figure out ways to leave them.'_ Tails felt more than a little hypocritical.

Speeding down the main road, Tails' sensitive ears caught the sounds of shouting and yelling. He squinted his eyes and saw the outline of some sort of parade. He sped up.

Finding a few mobians standing on the side Tails stopped his bike, hopped off and walked over to someone he recognized.

"Hey Mal," he said to a young female skunk. "What's going on?"

"Oh, hey Miles!" She squealed. Tails winced at the name but said nothing. "Great stunt with those iCAN's the other day, it was great!"

"Uh-huh," Tails nodded off the praise impatiently. "But what's going on over there?"

"Oh?" She looked over. "I think they caught some intruder, one of those weird, species, you know, those kinds that died out cause they killed each other?" She sounded indifferent, perhaps even satisfied that whoever had been caught was in custody. Tails threw her a sad look, it was depressing, how the government had brainwashed the kids in school into believing all sorts of things. He remembered the day when they'd learned that the Kitsune was a particularly vile species of fox which lived off other mobians pain and thrived particularly in leading unsuspecting mobians into dark swamps never to be found again. A sad day indeed.

"What species, did they say?" He asked.

"I dunno." She pursed her lips in thought. "Something weird, enich? Echid? Elich? E-something I think…"

A knot developed in Tails' stomach. He knew. "An Echidna, was that it?"

She shrugged. "Could be." And she shot him an unconcerned smile.

But Tails had already turned away, with a muttered 'Thanks' he jumped onto his bike and sped away. His ticket out of this city had just been handed to him. He grinned.

Reaching the procession, Tails immediately spotted the apex of the kafuffle, literally. A large bamboo cage was being hefted above the crowd and within it Tails could distinctly see a ball of red spikes hurling itself repeatedly at the bars. He could even hear—above the mob's yells—the angry exclamations and scolding coming from the creature. His grin grew.

_'Typical Knuckles, only he would avidly tell off the people carrying him to his untimely death.'_

He did a quick summary of the situation. He needed to get Knuckles out before the group reached the lab outside town. He had time, but the question was how was he going to do it with all these mobians around?

Discarding the bike on the side of the road, Tails wove through the crowd. He was jostled here and there, due to his small frame and one guy even stepped on his tails but eventually Tails reached the cage.

"OIE!" He called, when Knuckles looked around confusedly, but didn't notice him, Tails called again. "HEY! CAN'T EVEN WALK INTO TOWN WITHOUT CAUSING A BIG DRAMA, CAN YOU?"

Suddenly Knuckles' eye lit up and he looked down. He saw Tails and Tails was pretty sure he saw obvious relief on the Echidna's face before the Guardian schooled his features into a more muted look: a smirk.

"Tails! Am I ever glad to see you! Get me out of here, would you?" Knuckles bent down to speak so their words would be heard.

Tails threw his own smirk back at Knuckles. "Depends, how do I know you aren't some dangerous criminal who deserves to be roboticized?"

Knuckles folded his arms and rolled his eyes, somehow managing to look dignified even as he crouched in the cage where hard jolts nearly threw him off his feet every few seconds. "You've been living the high life for too long, Tails. You forget: my very existence is an infringement on the law."

Tails grinned, "Well if you're an infringement, then I should just—"

"Just get me out of here already!" Knuckles exclaimed, exasperated. Tails raised his hands in surrender.

"Ok, ok, let me just…" It was hard work to keep up with the cage, but Tails managed to grab onto one of the bars and heave himself up onto a thin edge of the wooden base. He knew it wouldn't be long before someone noticed him, so he had to move quickly. He examined the lock: a standard padlock, he could open one of these in his sleep. Tails reached into the pocket of his jacket. He was glad now that he always carried his kit with him; you never know when you'll have to _pick_ your way out of a sticky situation—

"HEY! Miles! What are you doing up there? Get down, you'll get hurt!" Tails suddenly felt himself grabbed around the middle and to his chagrin the pick stayed in the lock, getting further and further away as he was carried off the cage. Tails briefly glimpsed Knuckles mouthing the word _'Miles?'_ to him and Tails glared.

"Oh be quiet." He muttered.

Tails looked up at the mobians who'd oh so kindly 'rescued' him. "Thanks, Hans." He said unenthusiastically, they stayed next to the cage, but Tails wouldn't get the chance to go up there again, not with Hans the Badger looking over him.

"No problem," Hans grinned, but Tails walked a little faster, the cage was getting farther away…

"Hey, Miles, what happened to your tail?"

With frozen horror, Tails twisted around.

"What?"

Then chaos broke loose.

It started with one woman crying, "He's loose! The Echidna's loose!"

Then everyone started screaming and running in all odd directions. The remains of the bamboo cage fell with a crash and round bamboo tubes were sent rolling into the crowd where mobians— either fleeing in fear, or trying the capture the lithe red blur that was Knuckles—fell and stumbled over them.

Tails meanwhile saw that his binds had come out—probably when that mobians had stepped on his tails—and both his tails were flying free. He hadn't even realized, maybe he would have normally noticed the moment the binds had come off, but his past form was so used to having both tails free, he hadn't even noticed the difference.

It was a split second decision, Knuckles couldn't fend off the Mobians forever and Tails could hear the robotic whine of backup arriving.

He had to do something.

He had to do it now.

Tails remembered his promise to his Mother.

_'Sorry Mother, but this is just cause.'_

And he jumped into the air, his tails spun, he bobbed and twisted in the air, nearly rolling over. Though his mind knew how to fly, his body had forgotten, but it didn't matter, Knuckles was within reach and Tails reached out and grabbed the Echidna's arm. The sudden weight nearly dropped them out of the air, but Tails gripped Knuckles with both hands, scrunched up his face and moved his tails as fast as he could. They rose, slowly, but steadily. Tails could hear the gasps of astonishment and the cries of fear below him:

"It's Miles!"

"But he has two tails!"

"Oh my GOD, he's…"

"He's a Kitsune!"

Tails winced, but forced himself not to think about it. From below him, Knuckles was urging him on, telling him to move so they could get out. Tails did, as best he could, but the weight proved too much and Tails fell gasping, downwards.

Knuckles landed first, feet first and bending his knees to cushion the fall, then he quickly turned and caught Tails before the kitsune landed on his head.

"That was good Tails, it was good." He said encouragingly, placing Tails on the ground.

Tails wheezed. "Not far enough." He said in between breaths.

"You got us past the crowd, and into the next alley, that's good." Knuckles pressed. "You bought us time… and you haven't ever done that before, have you? You've barely even flown, let alone carry someone else."

Tails shook his head. "No, I haven't. Not in this life." He said, then straightened, catching his breath. "Ok I'm good, let's go." And he lead the way, running down a series of small alleys bending and forking into a honeycomb of roads, awnings and shops.

"I have a bike, I left it… here." They had made their way back to where Tails had stashed his bike. They paused before getting on; the sound of the crowd had died down, only to be replaced by more loud robotic whirring.

"The 'cavalry' is coming. To save the city from the evil monsters." Knuckles said dryly.

"How did you know I've never flown before?" Tails wondered as he straddled the bike, motioning Knuckles to side behind him.

Knuckles eyed the machine with distaste but climbed on gingerly. "It's obvious," he answered. "I saw the binds you had around your tails, they came off when that badger grabbed you. Then he asked what happened to you _tail_. Singular. And then there was all that yelling. It wasn't hard to connect the dots, even if I was in a cage for most of it."

"Which reminds me, how did you get out?" Tails kicked the engine to life; the robots were visible in the side mirrors now.

"Oh come on." Something bronze flashed in front of Tails' eyes and he reached out to grab his lock-picking tool, tucking it away safely in his jacket. "You're not the only one who can pick a lock."

"Smarty." Tails muttered and revved up the bike, lurching ahead and speeding away, temporarily quieting Knuckles as the Echidna jerked backwards, loosing his breath in a whoosh of air.

The robots pursued but were no match to Tails' superior maneuvering. They might have been faster, but as Tails weaved in and out of alleys and around various obstacles, the large metal predators were gradually picked off like flies.

A few moments of silence passed, then Knuckles' quiet voice spoke up from behind Tails.

"You know you can never come back here now."

Tails sighed. "I know."

_' I just hope Mother and Father will be okay.'_

An awkward silence fell- they had cleared the city and were now in the surrounding farmland. Tails noticed then how Knuckles kept fidgeting in the seat behind him. Tails smiled.

"Not a motorbike fan?" He asked, his tone not a little mocking.

"I'm more of a car guy." Knuckles muttered back. "But I bet Sonic would appreciate your little stripe of metal."

Tails laughed. He hadn't realized until now how much he'd missed his friends. "Hey, you hear? Sonic's Royalty now!"

Knuckles moaned. "Oh good Lord, 'King Sonic'… I can hear the world crumbling to dust already."

* * *

**TBC**

* * *

That is all! 

To my reviewers:

**Kinda-Mayvelle: **Thanks for the support, it made me really happy that at least one reader doesn't mind waiting for me to update. I guess I really did need to hear that! XD

**Lluvia-the-Wolfgirl:** Thanks for reviewing!

And of course, from Mediaminer:

**mania the hedgehog:** Thanks for continually reminding me to update, without that, this chapter would have probably come out a lot later :P

**xoknucklesxo:** Ha ha, thanks for reviewing, and here's your update!


	10. Foolish Spiky Thing

**Lost Memories, Reborn Evil**

_Sholay_

Gah! MUST-REFRAIN-FROM-DELETING-FIRST-SIX-CHAPTERS!! Must edit SOON!

Yeah… just needed to get that out there, ok…please move on, nothing to see here, just ignore the raving author in the corner XD… And after yet another long, long break, I'm back updating as infrequently as ever, but still alive and plugging right along, against all odds! XD

**Summary of story thus far****:** Sonic is traveling with his brother and sister: Manic and Sonia, when he suddenly as a dream about an alternate past. This past includes all his adventures with the freedom fighters up until the incident on the ARK when they were swept into a black hole. Now, Sonic must retrieve the chaos emeralds before Robotnik does, or the world may be destroyed.

Reviewer notes are at the end!

Enjoy!

* * *

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

**Chapter 9: **"Foolish Spiky Thing"

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

* * *

"My God..."

Sonia's voice faltered and fell away to a long silence that stretched over the small group of mobians.

It was something she'd only ever heard about. Whispered fears her foster parents had voiced when they thought no one was listening. Everyone knew that Robotnik had conquered Mobotropolis; everyone knew he'd been the cause of the Queen's mysterious disappearance… and everyone knew what happened to those outspoken mobians who went missing after demonstrating on the streets…

…But all that was easily overlooked… All ignorable when you lived in your own little bubble, blocking out the greater world for your own, false, fragile world. Sonia knew, and knew well how easy it was to do this, as she herself had been one of those blind, foolish people not so long ago…

But not even Bartleby could have buried his head deep enough into the ground to ignore _this_.

An army.

An army of Robots.

Row upon row of massive, metal monsters mocked her and her brothers as they shone like beacons in the flickering street lights.

_'They herald the coming of the devil…'_ Sonic thought grimly. _'If I ever doubted the return of Robotnik's memory before, I certainly don't now. There is no way the Butt-nik from this universe could have created such an advanced robotic army… it's something only the genius scientist from before could have done.' _Suddenly, the sense of urgency became much clearer to Sonic. _'We have to leave. I need to get those chaos emeralds **now**_**.**_'_

He looked over to see Scarlett telling Sonia and Manic how this army of Robots had literally been erected in a matter of days, while Bathin the ferret lay at her feet, sleeping fitfully. Scarlett told them how it had come as a huge surprise to everyone in Robotropolis when Robotnik suddenly and unexplainably turned the entire city from one large roboticizer into a military base.

"It's like he's preparing for a war, ya know?" Scarlett said in her southern accent.

"Ok, ok, no time. Can you get back from here?" Sonic interposed himself into the conversation and sent a pointed stare at Scarlett. Sonia gave him an exasperated look which he ignored.

"Um, well… I can't just carry him through tha' city." Scarlett looked at Sonic and he let out a low growl of frustration. She was right; it would attract too much attention. Plus, he gave Scarlett a cursory look; she didn't look like she could carry the unconscious ferret on her own.

"Fine." He said eventually. "Lead the way."

* * *

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

* * *

Taking the back alleys, the small group had eventually come to Scarlett's house, located in the back of a bar. Dropping off the two tag-alongs, the three triplets were once again left to their own devices.

"Alright Sonic. That's it." Sonia grabbed her older brother by the arm and roughly dragged him into a back alley, Manic following silently. Sonic made a short sound of protest but gave in. Safely under the cover of darkness, Sonia spun Sonic around so his back was against the wall and leaned in. "I can't take this anymore. You're acting ridiculous. You showed us how your appearance has changed, but won't tell us why. You're acting bossy, domineering and downright rude, but won't tell us why. I'm sick of it. You're going to spill everything. _Now_."

Sonic, his fallen hood hanging around his shoulders, drew back at the sheer assertion in Sonia's voice. There was no room for argument in her tone.

_'…Well…'_ Sonic thought. _'I'll just have to make some.'_

"No." He said.

Sonia drew back as though struck.

"No… No?! What sort of an answer is that… 'No'?! This isn't a game Sonic, secrets may seem like a fun idea to you, but believe me—"

"I _know _this isn't a game." Sonic's voice, low and intense, split through Sonia's words and she fell silent. "You think I thought it was a game when Uncle Chuck was dragged off and roboticized? You think I thought it was a game when I nearly kidnapped you and Manic and told you who we were? You really think so? I risk _my life_ every day to help these mobians. I _never _considered their lives to be a game."

There was a heavy silence in the wake of Sonic's words. Manic was looking at Sonic with wide eyes, but Sonia's expression changed from flabbergasted to furious.

"Excuse me?" She cried. "_Excuse me? _You think _you're _the only one taking risks here? I left my entire _life _behind to follow you on a whim! I had a _home_, a _family_, a _future_—!"

"And if you regret leaving it you can always go back." Sonic said dispassionately.

Sonia's rage tripled, hands balling into fists at her sides.

"_Why you_—!!"

"Guys! Guys! Stop it! We can't be doing this now!" Manic suddenly came between Sonia and Sonic, putting a hand on each of their shoulders. "Remember where we are, think about it! We can't get into this here. Let's leave the city, _then _you two can have at it however you want. Got it?" Manic looked between his siblings, who, after a few seconds, both nodded tersely. "Good." Manic nodded. "Because honestly, I think you have some explaining to do too." And he gave Sonic a pointed look.

Sonic stayed silent, but his mind was racing. _'Should I tell them? Will they believe me? Will it put them in danger… or—'_

Just then a blaring, screeching alarm ripped through the air, piecing into their ears. Sonic, Sonia and Manic all covered their ears as the blaring sound echoed through the metal city. Suddenly a loud, mechanic voice began droning loudly over the din.

**_'Attention! Attention all citizens! Robotropolis has been breached in sector 3, the city is on immediate and complete lockdown. No one will be allowed to enter or leave the city save authorized personnel. All citizens are asked to please return to your homes. Return to you homes immediately. Anyone caught infracting upon the mandate will be immediately roboticized. No exceptions. The state is conducting a search of all residential areas. The perpetrators are suspected to be armed and dangerous. Be on your guard. Again, all citizens must return to their homes immediately.'_**

_'Dammit, what happened? Did they see us come in?'_ Sonic looked around wildly as Manic and Sonia both got wide-eyed, fearful looks on their faces. They looked at him for guidance.

Sonic's heart sank horribly as the heavy grating sound of metal locks came from the area where they'd entered the city. They were locked in; there was no way out. Sonic looked back at his younger siblings and they stared at each other in helpless silence.

The sound of wailing sirens got louder.

* * *

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

* * *

_'Curse them. __Curse **him**, that blasted hedgehog. What was he **thinking**, going into the city? He's asking for a death sentence.'_

Shadow ran through the forest, anger and agitation clear in his jerky, uneven strides. In the folds of his white scarf was tucked the tiny blackbird he'd picked up earlier, but he paid it no mind as he zipped through the dense foliage, deep in thought.

_'He will be caught in the city. That's for sure. It's ridiculous, how he would let himself be swayed so easily by a couple of mobians. Ever the fool, Blue Hedgehog, don't you realize what you're giving up in your misguided efforts to save the few in the stead of many? Don't you realize what it would mean if the power of the chaos emeralds got into the hands of Robotnik'_

_'Don't you realize what the true power of the chaos emeralds is?'_

When Shadow had awaken in the new world, he hadn't any memories of his former self. Confused and alone, he'd wandered this strange, dying world in search of who he was. Trapped in an ageless body, he never aged a day in all the years he wandered. It didn't take long for Shadow to learn of the war between the Mobians and Robotnik; he learned of the once prosperous Mobotropolis, and how it had been desecrated and twisted in this vile, barren world: where the trees grew stunted and weak and the grass faded into cold wasteland.

It also hadn't taken Shadow long to learn that his odd… abilities, were rather rare.

He was fast. Inexplicably fast, just on his feet. But one day, Shadow had bought himself a pair of old roller skates, and he's speed had become unparalleled.

At first, he'd offered his aid to the mobians, searching, as a lost child does, his true use in the world. But his appearance had deterred them: with black fur and slanted eyes of blood red, mobians had turned away from him in fear or disgust. And slowly, Shadow had grown cold toward the world that shunned him.

In his long searches for self-fulfillment, Shadow had come across a strange, glowing, green gem lying on the ground. And, bending down, he'd picked it up.

Visions—Memories: Pain, anger, love betrayal—

—friendship, respect, life—

…Death.

In that split second moment, Shadow had remembered everything.

He didn't know how he survived the fall off the ARK, but he suspected it had something to do with this gem—a chaos emerald—the one he held in his had: the one he'd never let out of his sight in the past universe.

The one he'd died holding.

Shadow supposed it was some divine intervention which had given him this second chance and left it at that. He had a mission to do and now he would do it.

For a year, Shadow had worked silently underground, participating in rebellions, aiding in attempted coups, fighting alongside the freedom fighters… but all was in vain. There was just no way to combat the frightening power of Robotnik's roboticizer.

Frustrated after too many failed rebellions and fallen comrades, Shadow had taken a more direct approach. Deciding to infiltrate the system personally, he'd picked various prominent cities in Robotnik's control, and basically destroyed every last machine in them. It had slowed Robotnik down significantly, but not enough to make a huge dent in the crazy man's plans.

Then one day, a miracle happened.

Shadow had been casually walking in the woods one morning when he was suddenly and violently assaulted by a half-mobian: one who had only undergone the roboticization procedure half-way and had been driven crazy by stress of having two conflicting dominant minds in their head, one of the mobian, and the other of the robot.

Screaming and swearing wildly, the half-mobian had tried to strangle Shadow. Not to be taken down so easily, Shadow had fought back and, in a surprising twist, the chaos emerald had fallen from his pack, directly into the view of the half-mobian. The creature, in fascination, had picked up the jewel and stared directly into its green depths.

The result had been astonishing. The creature had shrieked, falling backward with heartbreaking screams of agony, the jewel falling from a boneless hand. Then suddenly, the cries had stopped. Shadow had watched the prone figure warily, cautious of any renewed effort to kill him. But then, the most amazing thing had happened, the creature had opened its eyes… and they'd been the shining blue of a mobian, not the apathetic red of a robot. One by one, the metal pieces, once grafted onto the mobian's skin, now fell away like a snake shedding its skin. And in its place had been a normal mobian's. Restored.

After that revelation, Shadow had tried this healing trick on other roboticized creatures, only to find that it only worked on half-mobians who had lost their mind, of which there were very few.

But the wheels in Shadow's mind had been set in motion. If one chaos emerald could reverse the effects of a half-roboticization… what could two do? Three? Seven? The results could be monumental… miraculous. Every single roboticized Mobian could be restored.

It became Shadow's singular goal to find the chaos emeralds.

When searching all four corners of Mobius yielded no results, Shadow began looking for information by hacking into Robotnik's personal computer files.

It was then that he'd learned about the former Queen Aleena and her three children.

Amazing that such an important point could have eluded Shadow for so long. The existence of _Sonic _in this world… and the blue hedgehog was the number one enemy of the state, no less.

_Prince_ Sonic. The title seemed absurdly ridiculous, even to Shadow, who hadn't known the other hedgehog for very long.

By then though, Shadow had long since realized that he was the only one who had the retained memories of the other dimension. He'd tracked down Sonic and observed the hedgehog for days on end. Viewing, in slight disdain, how the once proud blue hedgehog had deteriorated into a gluttonous, egotistical, idiotic being.

If he'd thought the green chaos emerald would have restored Sonic's memories, he would have shoved the jewel into the hedgehog's hand in a second. But he knew this incident had been specific to him. He knew this because he'd seen Robotnik himself handle the white chaos emerald without any flash of memory in his eyes.

…It was probably also prudent to mention that Shadow's subsequent attempts to steal said emerald had fallen through, even being the inane fool Robotnik was, he'd had sufficient technology that make stealing the emerald impossible.

So Shadow had waited. Waited in hiding for the moment when the true Sonic would awaken and lead him to where the Chaos Emeralds were hidden.

But Robotnik had awoken first, and immediately started his creation of the robot army, sending the vile creation, Metal Sonic, to gather the emeralds.

Then finally, _finally_, when Sonic had awoken… he had to go and do something as _idiotic _as sneaking into Robotropolis.

The fool.

Well, it didn't matter. If the hedgehog had not made the mistake in taking his cloak off in front of his siblings then they would escape Robotropolis. Shadow was fairly certain.

But if Sonic _had _shown his appearance…

_'Blast it.'_

Sonic or no Sonic, Shadow would find the emeralds by tracking the passage of Metal Sonic. With the help of his new, enhanced skates—with his regained knowledge, Shadow no longer had need of ordinary roller blades—Shadow could catch up to Metal Sonic easily. Maybe, being constricted to merely following the heap of trash, he wouldn't reach the emeralds first, but he would bloody well stop anyone else from misusing them.

A sudden, low rumbling approaching on his left had Shadow skidding to a stop then jumping backward, high into the branches of a nearby tree. The edges of his white scarf fluttered downward and Shadow tugged it up, flipping it over his shoulder and out of view. He waited.

* * *

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

* * *

"Tails, c'mon, we've been driving around on this contraption for hours! Why can't we just ditch it somewhere?"

"Aw, Knuckles, you're such a scaredy-cat! My motorcycle can drive faster than both of us can walk!"

"Isn't it running out of gas by now?"

"Nope! I always use my own version of gasoline, none of that common, gritty stuff for my baby; it's pure, clean, efficiency all the way!"

"Tails you and your contraptions are going to be the death of me someday. You know that, right?"

"Hah ha!"

Tails and Knuckles sped by on a narrow, winding path through the woods. Knuckles was hanging onto Tails for dear life as Tails put ever more pressure on the gas pedal, taking the turns at mind boggling speeds.

"Tails, you're going to break the sound barrier at this rate!" Knuckles yelled toward the kitsune.

"That's the point! If we ever want to catch up to Sonic then we have to hurry." Tails called back and, as an afterthought, added "And could you stop digging your claws into my sides, it'll ruin my coat!"

After many long hours of traveling, even Tails was beginning to feel the wear of driving endlessly. And so, they slowed down near a fork in the road to take a short breather.

"How long do you think this thing will hold up?" Knuckles asked, nodding at the motorcycle as he perched on a rock.

"Long enough to get us to Almany… or what used to be Almany at least." Tails said from his position on the ground. The kitsune stretched his tails out and swished them up and down in obvious relish.

"Long enough to get us to the ruins then." Knuckles pondered. "We'll have to walk from there." He watched Tails for a few seconds, noting the kitsune's movement. "You must be relived: to finally have those ties off." He said speculatively.

"Yeah…" Tails sighed, giving his tails an extra flick, separating them as far as they would go. "It was awful… having to live so long pretending I was someone else. What about you? Where have you been all these years; alone on that floating Island of yours?"

"Hmm," A small smile crossed Knuckles' face. "Well… you're partly right. I have been on Angel Island. But not alone. Not this time."

"Oh?" Tails sat straight and looked at Knuckles. "What happened? Who is it?"

"My great-grandfather Athair… In the original timeline I have no idea what happened to him… but he's here now…" Knuckles laughed. "A bossier guy you've never met! And to think, I used to always go along with whatever he said. He nearly had a heart attack when I woke up one day and told him I was leaving the Island. '_The fates will not forgive you for your grave error!_' I think those were his words."

Tails gave Knuckles a rueful grin. "I know what you mean; I used to go around with the ties on my tails all the time without complaining. My mom freaked when I told her I wanted to take them off."

"You have a mother now...?" Knuckles mused, giving Tails a side-long look; he knew well how much the young kitsune had desired parents in the other time.

Tails shook his head. "Adoptive mother. Parents died before I can remember." Tails paused. "They're just like real parents to me though… I'm glad, at least… that I got the chance to experience having them…" Tails said the last part softly; shoving is toes into the dirt.

"Hmm…" Knuckles looked upward, he wasn't sure what to say to the kid.

"Why did your great-grandfather want you to stay on the island?" Tail asked then, changing the topic.

"Guard the Emerald." Knuckles answered blandly, looking at the back of his glove.

"Emerald?" Tails echoed. "It's still there?"

"Yup. Though they call it a Chaos Emerald now; still the same Master Emerald in my view though."

"I… see…" Tails hesitated. "So if you're not guarding it…"

"Oh I got Chomps on it—my pet Dinosaur." Knuckles grinned. "He wont let anyone past. Plus I hid the Emerald underground. Besides, it's not like you guys would be able to survive out here without my help!" The grin turned into a smirk.

Tails smiled softly. "… Just like old times, huh? Now all we need is Sonic."

"Yeah…" Knuckles looked down. "I wonder… if anyone else from the old time made it through?"

"You mean like Rouge and the Chaotix?" Tails asked.

"Yes." Knuckles said; his eyes got a faraway look to them. "…And someone else as well…"

"… Oh…" Tails grew quiet. "You mean…"

"Shadow."

* * *

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

* * *

Shadow watched Tails and Knuckles resting at the fork in the road with a thoughtful look on his face. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but had a pretty good idea of where they were heading.

It would do no good. There was no way they'd catch up to Metal Sonic in time.

But there was something else they could do…

"Hey." Shadow spoke in a quiet, gruff voice. "Hey you, bird, can you speak?"

A small bundle of feathers poked up from around his scarf, and a pair of golden eyes blinked widely up at him.

"Master wishes to speak to Suzu?" The bird said in a high, chirpy voice. "Oh Master! Master! Finally you speak to poor, humble Suzu! Suzu was wondering if Master would ever address him! Suzu is so happy, so, so happy!"

The bird's incessant chatter was getting on Shadow's nerves so he interrupted it. "Yes, whatever. Suzu, you said your name was, right?"

The bird nodded, a rapid bobbing of the head, like a mini jackhammer. "Yes, yes, Suzu it is, Master! Suzu is at your service for saving him from the evil shiny! Suzu will forever be—"

"Stop talking." Shadow said. The bird fell silent. '_'Evil shiny'?_' Shadow wondered. _'Silly bird must be talking about the robot.'_ "Now, I want you to do something for me."

"Anything!" Suzu chirped. "Suzu will do whatever the Master wants!"

"Good. Now you see those two Mobians down there? I want you to…"

* * *

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

* * *

"Alright Tails, I think we should head back out on that moving deathtrap of yours." Knuckles said reluctantly, pulling himself to his feet.

Tails jumped up eagerly. "Great! I thought you were going to try and chicken out or something—"

"Mister, Mister!"

Tails and Knuckles both started when a third voice called out from the trees around them. The two mobians tensed up, but when a small black bird appeared from the foliage and flew up to them, they relaxed.

"Hey, it's a cute little bird!" Tails cried gleefully. "Hey there little bird!"

"Hello, Mister! Mister is named 'Tails' right, right?" Tails nodded to the little bird, which immediately flew over to Knuckles stopping right in front of his face. Knuckles drew back, surprised at the bird's closeness. "And you, Mister!" The bird continued excitedly. "You is Mister 'Knuckles', yes, yes?" Slowly Knuckles nodded, wary of the little feather duster. He raised a hand to bat the little creature away.

"Suzu is so glad!" The bird chirped loudly and flew upward. "Suzu was afraid he'd get his instructions wrong; but Suzu got the mobians right! Yes, Suzu did! Now all Suzu has to do is deliver the message!"

"Umm, ok…" Knuckles said slowly as Tails grinned hugely and reached out to pet the bird. The bird flew down to the touch immediately, humming happily under Tails' ministrations. "What's your message, bird?"

"Oh, oh, Suzu knows! Suzu knows!" The bird looked up with bright, golden eyes and nodded. "Suzu was supposed to say that a 'Blue Hedgehog is calling the aid of two friends: One fox with two tails called 'Tails' and one red, spiky thing called 'Knuckles'."

"_Spiky Thing?_" Knuckles expression was not amused, but Tails interrupted before Knuckles could say anything more.

"Aid? Sonic needs our help? Why? Where is he?"

"Umm…" The bird paused, as though wondering how to answer the question, then it said. "The message that the Blue Hedgehog sends is that he is in the city called 'Robotropolis' with two siblings: one sister and one brother. The Blue Hedgehog fears the 'One Who Loves Eggs' has found them and asks that two friends: a fox and a spiky thing, will come to his aid." The Bird suddenly flew away from Tails' hand. "Ok! Suzu has delivered his message! Suzu's job is all done! Suzu is going back now to master! Bye, bye!"

"Hey wait!" Tails called. "Where is Sonic?"

"Blue Hedgehog is in place with many, big, shiny evil things where the 'Egg-man' stays!" The bird cried before disappearing.

"Shiny evil things?" Tails looked bemused.

"Where the Egg-man stays." Knuckles added. "It must be Robotropolis."

"But… how did Sonic know where to sent Suzu to contact us?" Tails asked.

"More than that." Knuckles' eyes were narrowed suspiciously. "Who's this 'Master' of his?"

Tails was silent for awhile, then looked back at Knuckles.

"What do you think we should do?"

"Well, as I see it there are two choices now." Knuckles brought up one finger. "One, we assume this message is a fake sent to divert us off the plan and ignore it." He put up another finger. "Two, we backtrack; and lose at least a day of travel to check out this tip."

"If it's fake…" Tails said.

"We may never reach the emeralds before Robotnik does." Knuckles said.

"But if it's true…"

"Then if we don't go, Sonic might not make it out." Knuckles said gravely.

Tails nodded. His mind was made up.

"Let's go to Robotropolis." Tails headed to the bike and Knuckles groaned.

"Honestly Tails, couldn't you have just driven a more _normal _method of transportation?"

"Oh, and you're one to talk, Mr. 'I-live-on-a-floating-island', huh?"

"That is beside the point!"

* * *

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

* * *

Shadow was kneeling on one knee, watching the motorcycle disappear off in the distance toward Robotropolis.

"That was close, Suzu. You nearly ruined the entire thing with your little slip." He said to the bundle in his scarf.

"Suzu will do better next time! Suzu had a hard time remembering all Master's lines about Blue Hedgehogs and Spiky things! Suzu is very, very sorry!"

"…" Shadow sighed through his nose. "Very well. Don't let it happen again."

"Yes Master! Master is very nice, forgiving Suzu with such grace! Master is such a nice Master! Suzu is so very happy to have such a nice Master!"

Shadow sighed again, this time bringing a gloved hand to rub at the spot between his eyes. Honestly, first this bird had been as silent as the grave, now it wouldn't stop talking for a second. Shadow was beginning to question his motives in bringing the annoying ball of feathers along.

After a moment, Shadow gathered his thoughts and focused in on his goal. Looking around, he could faintly see the chaos trail he'd been following thus far. Clearly, Metal Sonic had the white Chaos Emerald in his possession. And as long as the passage of the emerald hadn't been more than a few days, Shadow could spot the wispy, glowing trail of chaos energy that was left in the wake of a passing emerald. It was Shadow's gift, and his curse; his ability to track and use chaos energy. It was the reason he'd been imprisoned and experimented on at the ARK for so long…

Shadow shook his head. This was not the time for such thoughts. Besides, that was an entire different timeline, not even remotely similar to this one. He should not dwell on such insignificant things. Now was the time for the present. And the present entailed some sense of urgency on his part.

Shadow sped off again, following a trail only he could see, into the rapidly waning sunlight.

* * *

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

* * *

"_Ssst! __Hey you! Yes, you three! Come in here, come quick!"_

Sonic, Manic and Sonia spun around, seeing a hand appear from past an old, rickety wooden door deep within the dark recesses of the alley. The hand beckoned them, then disappeared past the threshold. After sharing a glance between them, the triplets followed, Sonic quickly tugging up the hood over his head.

One by one, they entered the dark room. Squinting in the meagre light, their eyes slowly adjusted.

"Whoa," Manic intoned.

They were in the back of a club. They were standing in a storage area, dimly lit with a red bulb while deep music pulsed from a door leading to the main dancing room.

"_Hey, hey, _you three, you're the sons and daughter of_ Queen Aleena_, are you not?" The voice—which they could now see originated from an aging rat—asked.

"Hey," Sonia was unsettled. "You can't expect us to just—"

"Yes, we are." Sonic override her, ignoring her resulting look of irritation.

"Oh, we are blessed! Finally the gods smile down upon us, the Princes and Princess have returned to Mobius!" The rate wheezed, raising his hands in supplication.

"Shh, old man, we don't want this news to go _public, _you hear?" Manic hissed.

"Yes, yes, how foolish I grow in my many years. Indeed, you wish to be kept secret. Which is why you are here! Yes, you will dress as my hired waiters." He looked at Sonic and Manic.

"Then what about me?" Sonia pointed to herself.

"Well…" The old rat looked at her appraisingly. "You would make a fine young dancer. If I may say."

"You may _not_!" Sonia said hotly, as her brothers sniggered on the side. "I will be a waiter too."

Minutes later, the Sonia and Manic had put on their costumes, but Sonic, who had been delaying in taking off his cloak and goggles, was still in the bathroom. Suddenly there came the sound of a heavy pounding on the door. Sonic, his cloak pulled tight around him, peered around the door.

Sonia, garbed in a white waitress uniform, opened the door then jumped back with a squeak as five robots barged past her into the room.

**"This is a required questioning of all occupants in this residence. Do not resist. Failure to adhere to protocol will result in immediate roboticization. Four occupants have been established in this residence. Questioning will commence."**

Sonic gasped as one of the robots immediately turned and sped toward him. He didn't have time to even jump back before the robot was in front of him.

**"Resident number Oh-Four. Identify yourself. Do not attempt to lie to the detectors."**

"Uh…uh… My name is…" Sonic hesitated, but had no choice. He had to lie. "Rex."

**"…" **The mechanisms in the robot whirred as they analyzed the information. A bright light from a scanner flashed over Sonic's eyes and he waited with baited breath.

**"Subject—Rex—has not been found in database. Is the subject from outside the city." **The robot asked, though there was no questioning tone in its false voice.

"I'm here from the neighbouring city of Mane." Sonic breathed; barely able to believe that the robot had missed his lie. How was that possible?

**"Understood."** Again the light flashed over Sonic's eyes and with a jolt of realization, Sonic realized what was happening.

The goggles! The goggles Knuckles had given him, they were somehow preventing the scanner from picking up his lie. And the cloak too—Sonic fingered the odd material—it was furry, which must be confusing the artificial intelligence of the robot. The robot couldn't tell he was hiding his body!

**"Subject has been identified. Has the subject Rex seen in the vicinity a dark blue hedgehog with green eyes and long spikes."**

_'They know._' Sonic was suddenly sweating. _'Robotnik **knows**.' _Sonic realized then that Robotnik as not searching for Sonia or Manic… indeed they weren't even really even a threat anymore. No, Robotnik was searching for _him_, Sonic. The Sonic from the other time. Before he'd changed he'd had brown eyes and lighter blue spikes. Now all that had changed.

"No." Sonic said, with wide eyes. "I haven't seen anyone matching that description."

**"Understood."**

Just then there came a loud alarm from on of the robots on the other side of the room. Sonic looked around the robot in front of him in dismay as he saw Manic and Sonia grabbed and restrained. They reached for their pendants, but two quick shots from a robot's tranquilizer made them slump, unconscious in the robots' grasp.

**"The falsifying subjects have been restrained. They are aware of information regarding the priority enemy: 'blue hedgehog'. They will be taken to Doctor Robotnik immediately."**

Sonic mind was running a mile a minute. He'd shown Sonia and Manic what he looked like… So they'd _known_. He should have followed Knuckles' advice. He should have _never _taken his clock off and shown Manic and Sonia his changed appearance. They'd gotten caught because of _his _stupidity.

Intent on stopping the robots from taking away his siblings, Sonic rushed the robots and tackled one, knocking it away from Sonia, who crumbled to the ground. He threw open a panel in the robot's chest and ripped out a handful of wires. The robot fizzed and crackled, then died.

But Sonic's back was turned to the other robots and there was no way he could've fought all five at once. He leapt up, spinning, but when at three simultaneous stunning rays came at him at once, Sonic was unable to avoid them all.

His last conscious thought was how stupid a decision it had been to go to Robotropolis.

* * *

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

**End Chapter**

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

* * *

Whoo! (sighs) Wow, that was intense. A huge move in the plot (finally!), action, drama and a cliff-hanger. Hope you all enjoyed!

**Kiki Akuma:** Hey! Thanks for the review! Actually, I did make Tails' name 'Prowler' on purpose XD It awesome that you noticed! I wanted to show that, in spite of the time change, there're still some significant similarities between the two universes. Hope you liked the chapter!

**Chibi-Cougar: **Hi! Thank you for reviewing! I'm sorry it took so long to update, but I've been kinda stuck with this story for awhile. I've found a foothold now, but I'm still not sure how often I'll be able to update. Anyway, I really hope you're still following this and I also hope you enjoyed the chapter!

**Kinda-Mayvelle: **Hey! Lookie, lookie! Another update! Betcha didn't see that coming huh? XD I'm glad you liked the in-depth view of the time change from Tail's point of view. I hope you liked the Shadow introspection in this chapter!

**To those at MediaMiner:**

**maniathehedgehog: **(grin) Hey! It's been awhile hasn't it? I wonder though; if you're still following this, would you consider switching to my Fanfiction(dot)net account to follow this story? It's become increasingly difficult to update on mediaminer and I'm seriously considering discontinuing the fic on that site…

**Adio!**

**Sholay**


	11. What Once Was and What Now Is

**Lost Memories, Reborn Evil**

_Sholay_

Wow, you know, that's THE most reviews I've received for a chapter in…YEARS! XD Thank you so much guys! You really inspired me to sit down and write this chapter (and not procrastinate for another year! XD). And JOY! I have finally reached 10 chapters, how amazing! AND it's 08/08/08, go figure, huh? ;p

**Summary of story thus far****:** Sonic is traveling with his brother and sister: Manic and Sonia, when he suddenly as a dream about an alternate past. This past includes all his adventures with the freedom fighters up until the incident on the ARK when they were swept into a black hole. Last chapter, Sonic was knocked unconscious and his brother and sister were taken away by the robots of Robotropolis. Tails and Knuckles are speeding to the rescue and Shadow is hot on the trail of Metal Sonic and the chaos emeralds.

Reviewer responses, as always, are at the end of the chapter.

Enjoy!

* * *

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

**Chapter 10: **"What Once Was and What Now Is"

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

* * *

_Shadow stared out through the clear walls of his glass containment centre with insipid eyes. Around himself he could see scientists in white coats pouring over various machines or organic samples which they poked and prodded with sterile metal rods. All this was beyond the wall of his containment centre though and Shadow was not allowed to pass the wall. Letting out a slow breath through his nose, Shadow's eyes swept the air as he turned with a listless movement._

_Inside of his containment centre there was an empty food tray that could be folded through the walls, allowing Shadow to be fed regularly without the need of someone having to enter his sterile environment. There was also a simple army cot in the corner and a wall of shelves filled with books that were restocked whenever Shadow left the containment centre for training or testing. A small sequestered area in the corner held a lavatory for his basic needs._

_Everything was white: the walls, the ceiling, the floor, even the bed. Everything was clean and white and sterilized and Shadow felt that his very presence was a pox on the room. His ebony spikes defiled the perfect white of the room and his mere touch would befoul its sterile cleanliness. So when Shadow slept, he slept on his side at the edge of the bed, touching at little of the mattress as he could. And when Shadow walked, he paced, circling the least amount of ground over and over in his attempt to shake the lethargy from his limbs. And when he read, he stood not against the wall, taking support from nothing but the inevitable ground._

_It was one of the reasons why—when the Doctor once asked if he requested any luxuries—Shadow mentioned white gloves and socks before his cherished books._

_Shadow turned with a swift, efficient movement as he came to the end of his pacing route. His arms were folded behind his back as he watched the scientists outside his wall with a vague disinterest that contrasted sharply with his acute, severe eyes._

_He had been in this facility since he had been created by the Doctor: exactly twenty days, five hours, thirty seven minutes and thirty six seconds. These white walls, the training centre and the experimentation room were all Shadow had ever seen. But it was not in Shadow's nature to be curious, so every day he went through the same motions and procedures with the rapture of an uninspired robot._

_So today, while all the scientists scurried hither and yon with unnatural fervour in preparation for the arrival of the Doctor's granddaughter, Shadow merely paced, and watched, eyes tracking their movements like a noble hawk eyeing blandly the movements of ants below itself._

_And when the Doctor entered the room, tugging a small waif of a girl behind him and looking the most exultant Shadow had ever seen him, Shadow's own expression didn't change—though when he turned in his pacing he moved his body in a slow pivot and kept his eyes trained on the tiny girl with golden hair as she hid her head in the Doctor's coat._

_When the Doctor drew away from the girl to talk with a scientist she stood, awkward and insecure, in the centre of the room, fidgeting with the cloth of her blue dress, her eyes permanently averted to the ground. Shadow completed another pace and swung around. She was new: a foreign alien in his world of consistency, and the attention Shadow paid her was purely perfunctory._

_But when she looked up shyly, golden curls bobbing, as though sensing his attention, her eyes—so blue they made her dress look grey—caught his gaze in an intense look that halted his feet mid-step and his breath half drawn._

_In a moment, that one glance between them spanned more than the clear wall and half a dozen feet separating them. It spanned the very laws and fundamentals that separated their two very different lives._

_The life of the innocent and the life of the damned._

_The girl smiled._

_And Shadow stared._

* * *

_When Shadow was exactly a year old, the Doctor asked him—in a manner that was more joking than serious—if there was something he wanted for his Birthday._

_Shadow had answered—with the toneless, bland voice in which he answered all questions—that he wished to meet again the Doctor's Granddaughter._

_Certainly, the look the Doctor bestowed on him was one of shock and surprise; Shadow was not in the habit of requesting things, definitely not things as illogically unproductive as the chance to see someone. The Doctor didn't even know that the two even knew each other._

_Nonetheless, the Doctor acquiesced, because once asked, the Doctor never denied Shadow anything. And within a day the girl with curly golden hair was once again standing before him. Only this time, she was slightly taller and her hair was slightly less curly._

_"So," The girl put her palms flat on the clear wall standing between them. "Grandfather said you wanted to see me." She gave a tiny smile._

_"Indeed." Shadow was standing away from the glass, arms folded behind his back. He faced her, and watched her intensely, but she seemed unaffected by his close stare._

_"Why?" She cocked her head to the side._

_Shadow's eyebrows creased in the slightest frown. He didn't know why he had requested to see her; it was just the first thing he'd thought of. "I do not know." He answered truthfully._

_She giggled. "You're silly! You can't just want to see someone without a reason!"_

_Shadow felt a stir of—something—within him. This little human was confusing, and illogical. Never before had he been called silly. In fact, the scientists concluded him to be quite above the average intellectual level. Now this girl was proclaiming it aloud, without the slightest concern? How odd. And to insinuate that he was not telling the truth: it was presumptive, and it made no sense._

_"Well… anyway." The girl leaned forward and pressed her nose onto the clear wall. "My name is Maria, what's yours?"_

_"Shadow." He said._

_"Hello Shadow!" She said brightly. "Well, my Granddad also told me it's your Birthday today, so I brought you something!"_

_"Why?" Shadow asked plainly._

_Maria looked at him like he had four heads. "Because! It's your Birthday and everyone gets presents on their Birthday! Haven't you ever had a Birthday before?"_

_"No." He said._

_Maria looked shocked for a moment, but that expression quickly turned into a happy grin. "Oh! So it's your first Birthday! Then I'm so happy to be giving you your first present. Here!" She pulled out something round and flat from her pocket. "It's not very much but it's all I could get on my own. It's one of my Aunt's cookies; she makes them taste really good!" _

_"No, thank you." Shadow shook his head._

_Maria's eyes widened and she looked hurt. "But… but, I brought it for you and I thought…" For an unknown reason, her crushed expression caused a heavy, uncomfortable feeling in Shadow's chest and he relented._

_"Very well. I will accept your gift."_

_Maria beamed, immediately happy, and made to call one of the scientists, but stopped when Shadow raised a hand._

_"No." He said. "Do not call them." He walked to the food tray and told Maria how to open it just enough to let the cookie slid through. Shadow did not know what possessed him to do this, but he knew that if Maria called the scientists, they would not have allowed him to have the food. And he knew this would make the little girl unhappy. _

_Shadow's daily meal consisted of basic fluid nutrients and pills, so this odd, round object was completely foreign to him. He held it up to his eyes._

_"Try it!" Maria urged excitedly._

_He did. Raising it to his mouth and gingerly taking a small bite._

_"So? So? How is it?"_

_Shadow thought for a moment about what his impression was of the crumbling, textured thing in his mouth. He took another bite, then finished the entire thing. "It is different." He said at length._

_"But is it good or bad?" Maria said impatiently._

_"I do not know." He answered._

_Maria was once again looking at him like he was crazy. "Of course it's good! It's really, really good! I mean, now broccoli, ew!" She scrunched up her nose in an amusing way. "Now that tastes bad."_

_"Then you will have to bring me one." Shadow said._

_"Why?" Maria asked with a little frown._

_"So I will know what is good and bad." He said logically._

_Mariah laughed, Shadow just watched her, wondering at how she could be so happy all the time. "You're so funny!" She said. "I like you! Do you want to be friends?"_

_"Friends?" Shadow repeated slowly._

_"Yes! That means that I'll come and see you every now and again and we can talk and stuff… I'll even bring you some broccoli if you want!" She laughed again._

_"Very well." Shadow conceded., though not reluctantly. "Friends."_

* * *

_When Shadow was three, Maria stayed at the centre over night and snuck in to see him after everyone had retired for the night._

_"Psst! Psst! Shadow! Shadow, wake up!"_

_"Maria?" Shadow asked, instantly awake. He stood, but not before putting on his white socks. "Is something wrong?"_

_"No, no, don't worry Shadow, you already worry enough, you'll be old and wrinkly before you're twenty at this rate." Maria said with a short laugh. Shadow did not answer, but his lips quirked at the end, as they had begun to do whenever Maria said one of her amusing comments. "Now come on, I'm getting you out of here!"_

_"Excuse me?" Shadow questioned, not thinking her heard her right._

_"It's just for the night, Granddad says you've only been to three rooms in this entire place, and that's just awful! I wonder how you don't get bored out of your mind!"_

_"I do not get bored." Shadow said blandly._

_"Right, right, just like you don't get curious, right?" Maria rolled her eyes. "Well, bored or not, tonight you're going to see something you've never seen before. Now just wait." Maria pulled a card from her pocket then began fiddling with a console on the side. Shadow did not question her, for she was the Doctor's Grandchild, what wrong could she do?_

_Suddenly, the clear wall parted with a hiss and slid away._

_"Come on!" Maria gestured for Shadow to follow her and he did._

_The first thing he noticed was that her hair was even more golden without the wall between them. And she had a very distinctive smell around her: sweet, yet not overly so; it tickled his sensitive nose in a way that was not unpleasant._

_"Come in here…" Maria ushered Shadow into a different room and as he went in, his could not stop his eyes from widening._

_"Isn't it beautiful? These are the window to the outside. That is outer space, and those bright shining lights are stars." Maria gestured as she spoke and walked closer to the window. Shadow found the way the natural light from outside played across her skin just as fascinating as what was through the window itself. "And that," Maria continued, pointing to something Shadow couldn't see. "Is Earth, where I live."_

_Shadow walked slowly, reverently toward the window and looked down. There, suspended in a void of black, was a spectacular, glowing sphere of blue, green and white._

_"Earth." Shadow said, softly. He had never seen anything like it before._

_A few moments passed in silence between the pair, and then Maria looked at Shadow._

_"Um… Shadow, I was… wondering something…" She wrung her hands nervously and Shadow felt one of his eyebrows rise: a habit he'd learned from her._

_"Yes?" He asked._

_"Could I… could I… touch you?" She asked innocently._

_Shadow did not know what to say._

_"I won't hurt you!" She was quick to add. "I just … want to know what your fur feels like, and if your quills are sharp…" She was turning red._

_"…You may…" It was the first time Shadow had been hesitant with his words._

_Maria's hand stretched out, trembling at first, then got braver. Her fingertips brushed across the red crest on his head and Shadow gave a tiny jerk. She recoiled a little, but then bravened, and placed her hand fully on his head._

_It was the first time someone had touched Shadow. Sure, when he was taken for experiments, the scientists always poked him with various needles and tested the ability of his joints. But whenever they touched him, it was in an informal way, and they always wore gloves._

_Maria's hand was warm, and soft._

_For the first time, Shadow longed to take off his gloves and touch something, or some_one.

_Almost as though sensing his thoughts, Maria laughed. "Go ahead." She said._

_Slowly, one finger at a time, Shadow pulled off his gloves. And then he reached up and touched her arm._

_A sensation, unlike any he'd ever felt, raced through his arm and down his spine like a bolt of lightning._

_"Here." Maria said gently and she took his hand in hers—he marvelled, silently, at how warm she made him feel—and pressed the tips of his fingers into her wrist. "Can you feel it?"_

_And Shadow could. He felt the dull, steady throb of her heartbeat as it pulsed into his fingers. He looked up into her eyes—so innocent, and so blue—and when she grinned, he couldn't help but smile as well._

_It was then, that Shadow realized that Maria had been the first living creature to ever touch him. And not just in a physical sense; she had touched his heart. A heart he hadn't even realized existed before he met her._

* * *

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

* * *

Shadow awoke suddenly.

Blinking in the green sunlight that streamed through the trees, he was instantly awake. He allowed himself the barest of moments to reminisce on the lost memories, before letting the dream fade away into oblivion like the many countless dreams before it.

"Wakey, wakey, Master! Suzu has something very, very important to say to Master! And Suzu must say quickly!" The tiny black bird zipped around Shadow's head in endless circles until Shadow's hand shot out and grabbed the hyper little bird right out of the air. Suzu squeaked as he suddenly found himself clutched tightly in Shadow's gloved hand.

"Speak." Shadow said.

"Suzu, was just looking for food! See, Suzu doesn't like the wrinkly little seeds that grow near the end of the trees, so Suzu goes really deep to find the perfect seeds! You know, Master, the ones that grow of the tallest trees waaaay up!" Suzu continued to chirp incessantly and Shadow sighed, releasing the bird and rubbing at his temple with one hand. Knowing nothing he would say would make the bird get to the point sooner, Shadow settled for tidying up their temporary campsite. He picked up the white scarf in which he carried Suzu and tied it around his neck.

"But then, just as Suzu was coming down after his nice snack—ZAP!" Suzu, floating in the air, suddenly jerked sharply to the left. "The evil shiny nearly zapped Suzu's wing off! He did, he did! Suzu is scared just thinking about it, and Suzu's feather's got all messy." Suzu huffed and puffed out his feathers, but if he had been looking for sympathy from Shadow he wasn't going to find it.

"Robots?" Shadow's head snapped around and he narrowed his eyes at the bird. "You saw robots?"

"Yes, yes!" Suzu's wings buzzed excitedly, glad to have Shadow's full attention. "Suzu saw many, many evil robot shinies! They were all over, and ugly, and mean, and nasty—"

"Where did you see them?" Shadow kept the bird focussed.

"This way, Master!" And Suzu disappeared into the trees with a small flap and rustle of leaves.

Shadow swift pursuit was soundless.

* * *

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

* * *

When Sonic came to his senses, he found he couldn't see.

Groaning and pulling himself into a sitting position, Sonic rubbed at his eyes blearily and blinked many times, hoping the darkness would lift from his eyes. Eventually, it did recede, but not by much. Instead of pitch black darkness, now Sonic could at least make out general shapes and forms.

It seemed as though he was in some sort of stone cell. Rising to his feet, Sonic found a wall and mapped the cell. It was small, about three normal paces in length and width. The place was completely bare: no table, no seats, no bed, not even any loose stones on the dirt floor. There were no windows, but along one wall Sonic found a heavy wooden door with a tiny three-slit grating that provided the flickering, yellow light source in the cell.

"Huh, you jump one teensy-weensy little guard and they stick you in a cell for all eternity, there's Robotnik's infamous 'hospitality' for ya." Sonic said aloud, then shook his head. "Still… it could've been worse, they coulda executed me, or roboticized me on the spot…" This new revelation made Sonic pause.

_'Come to think of it… why DIDN'T they kill me? Or at the very least, take me to Egg-man?'_

It was at that moment that Sonic realized he was still wearing his cloak and goggles.

_'Of course! The Robots have no idea who I am! To them, I'm just another rebellious citizen!' _Sonic grinned at this stroke of luck, but the smile dropped when another thought struck him.

_'Sonia and Manic are in trouble! I gotta save them!' _

Making his way to the wooden door again, Sonic ran his gloved fingers around the edge until he found the metal plate where the key would fit on the opposite side of the door. _'Okay…' _Hay thought. _'So this is a pretty old lock, it'd probably give if I spun at it for a bit…'_ Sonic paused.

_'Oh wait… duh! Hello! Fire wielding powers here! What am I thinking?!' _Sonic smacked himself on the head and drew back his glove to expose the fire bracelet around his wrist. It seemed the Robots hadn't seen fit to relieve Sonic of his personal affects, which suited Sonic just fine. He wasn't going to test karma by questioning the robots' stupidity.

_'Serves the Egg-man right for trusting his entire kingdom in the hands of robots anyway.' _Sonic reasoned.

Holding his arm straight out, Sonic aimed the fire gem directly at the centre of the door before activating the power of the bracelet.

Sonic felt the familiar surge of ambient chaos energy being pulled into the ring then converted to thermal energy before being exuded in a stream of flame. The chaos fire ate away at the rotting wood with ease and Sonic didn't have to wait long before he could stop the flames and kick down the remains of the door.

Sonic stepped through his improvised exit, coughing in the shower of dust and ash that rained down on him and tugging his cloak as it dragged and got caught in the wooden splinters.

The glimmer of flickering amber light brightened as Sonic stepped into the next room.

And stopped, gasping aloud.

Up, up, up and up, Sonic could see floor upon floor of doors—cells; prisons. He was on the bottom floor: wide and spacious, the dirt floor stretched until it hit the dirty brown stone of the walls. Walls which reached up into the sky as far as Sonic could see. There were at least six landings above him, and each was made of a slim metal grating which ran along the walls, leaving a gaping square hole through the centre of each floor. Through this hole ran long chains and wires and even, Sonic looked far up into the air: a tall, metal ribbed cage. Cells and cells lined every wall of every floor and if Sonic listened, he could just barely hear the despondent moans of the damned, trapped within this endless dungeon.

Sonic's first, very strong, instinct was to run and free every last mobian trapped in these cells. But when the mechanical buzz of a robotic scanner came from above him, Sonic withdrew back into the darkness of his cell and forced himself to think.

Saving the mobians trapped here would make him responsible for getting them all out… and travelling in a large group would decrease their chances of getting out to almost nothing. If they got caught by the guards there would be casualties. And if Sonic got caught, his disguise would definitely be blown…

Sonic grit his teeth. Only a few days ago, before he'd got his memory back, he would have jumped in and tried to save these mobians without a second thought. He would have called the thoughts we was having just now selfish and disregarded them. He would have caused a big commotion, acted recklessly and stupidly and gotten himself captured. Then Sonia and Manic would have to come and rescue him as usual.

Only Sonia and Manic weren't coming.

Sonic knew the only way he was getting out of the prison alive was if he did it alone.

He hardened himself. But not before making a resolution, a promise, that he would come back and save everyone trapped in these cells.

No matter how long it took.

With that, Sonic lowered his head and ran from the cover of the shadows.

The room was lit by naked amber light bulbs in cages that were scattered around the walls on each floor. They had the eerie effect of turning the entire room a muddy, reddish-brown colour, but they also left wide areas of darkness in the nooks and crannies of the room. Sonic used this to his advantage. Like a shadow, he passed through the areas of light before collapsing in the dark safety behind a crate or in a corner. Occasionally, a buzzing sensor robot would pass overhead, its red laser scanning the area threateningly. But Sonic, cloaked and hidden, was invisible to them, and it was with relative ease that he managed to cross the room and arrive in the stairwell.

The stairs were metal and creaky, but Sonic moved upward swiftly and with light steps. Silent speed was his specialty.

At the very top of the stairs, Sonic only briefly paused before dashing through the doors. Having encountered no problems thus far, he was growing confident.

He left the large room where he'd been imprisoned and moved into a narrow, dark hall, also lined with prison cells. Running swiftly down the long hall, he was more than halfway through when he heard the telltale **Clunk! Clunk!** of heavy metal feet marching and heading toward him. Sonic skidded to a halt, a sudden, panicked expression crossing his face. There were robots heading his way, and he had nowhere to run.

Sonic looked around frantically for a place to hide. There were no halls branching off and all the cells were locked. He could run away from the robots, but they might sense his movement. Suddenly, Sonic saw a small crack in the wall and, grinning with relief, crouched down and squirmed into it as far as he could. Pulling his knees up and practically rolling into a ball, Sonic just managed to fit. Unfortunately, as he was scrambling into the hole his spikes knocked loose some pebbles, which fell in a shower around him, and the noise alerted the prisoner in the cell nearest to him.

"Hey! Hey! Is anyone out there? Heelllooooo!" A voice called from within the cell. "C'mon!! Anyone! Help me! I've been in here for days, and it's really rather nasty… If you're a guard out there though, would you mind terribly running a bath in here? I simply must wash my hair!... Oh and could you perhaps serve me some rosebud tea in a china cup, two sugars and no milk, if you please!"

Sonic grimaced and cringed at the loud, obnoxious voice coming from the cell. Whoever it was didn't sound like they were going to be quiet until they brought the entire army of robots down on them, and that would be disastrous for Sonic.

"Hey, Hey! Shh! Be quiet!" Sonic hissed.

"Oh! There _is_ someone out there! Hello! Can you help an old chap out here?" The voice answered jubilantly.

Sonic frowned, remembering the guards rapidly nearing them. "No, not just now."

"But you have to! I can't stand another moment in this awful, grimy cell! Just get me out, and quickly! I'll yell really loud and get you caught if you refuse!"

Sonic scowled at the nerve of this mobian "Alright, alright! I'll help, just be quiet!"

"Top hole!"

"Sh!"

Sonic pressed himself further into the darkness as the robots neared. Then, as their clunking metal feet passed mere inches before him, Sonic's breath completely stopped as he waited, endlessly, for the guards to walk by. Finally, when their large, gleaming forms disappeared from the hall, Sonic let out his breath in a relieved puff of air.

"Hey you! They're gone now, right? Then get me out! And hurry!"

Sonic grumbled, but did as the voice asked and burned down the door. Soon, a coughing, soot-covered form appeared.

"My! How horrid! Couldn't you have used a less boorish way to open the door?"

And it was then, as Sonic saw the expensive clothes and that signature swagger, that he finally recognized that disdainful, obnoxious voice.

"Bartleby?!" Sonic cried, and pulled off his hood and goggles. The mink looked equally surprised, raising his eyebrows and lowering his eyes with distinct derision.

"Sonic?!"

* * *

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

**End Chapter**

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

* * *

Yay! So that's the chapter, thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed and… review! For anyone who doesn't remember, Bartleby is Sonia's old, rich boyfriend. Needless to say, he doesn't much approve of Sonic and Manic. XD

**BlackxShootingxStar:** Hi! Thanks for reviewing! Yeah XD Tails'…er…tails aren't strong enough to carry someone anymore! Well… let's hope he doesn't need them anytime soon ;p Hope you liked the chapter!

**Kinda-Mayvelle:** You know, I really can't say how awesome you are: to stick with this story for so long :D You're amazing. I'm glad you like Suzu, I thought it would be fun to give Shadow a sidekick XD Now it looks like Sonic might have one too (uh oh ;p). Shadow is pretty much my favourite character (though Sonic's pretty high up too) so I'll probably be developing him a little more. Did you like the flashbacks of Shadow and Maria at the beginning? (It was difficult to write from young, naïve Shadow's point of view :3)

**Pokelad:** XD Hiya! And thank you for reviewing! I'm glad you like it so far and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

**Chibi-Cougar:** Hee, hee.. it wasn't a particularly FAST update, but at least I didn't take another six months, huh? XD I'm really glad you're liking the story so far, and I hope you liked this update!

**Claamchowder: **Really? You had a dream and now you're into Sonic fics? XD That's something I would so do… in fact, I've gotten story ideas from dreams, so I know what you mean! Anyway, I hope I didn't take too long to update (grin) and didja like the chapter?

**Via: **Hey! (Huge grin) here's the update, hope you liked!

**Gadget: **Wow… really? You're reading this? That's totally awesome, since it's so different from my 'Sharingan Eyes' fic XD I'm glad you like it (though the first few chapters are SO incredibly old! :3) Hope you also liked this update!

**Adio!**


	12. Stain

**Lost Memories, Reborn Evil**

_Sholay_

**Summary of story thus far****:** Sonic is traveling with his brother and sister: Manic and Sonia, when he suddenly has a dream about an alternate past. This past includes all his adventures with the freedom fighters up until the incident on the ARK when they were swept into a black hole; only to be thrown back in time to a universe where everything, everyone, is different. Last chapter, Sonic woke up in a prison cell after he and his siblings were captured. He escapes, only to run into Bartleby, Sonia's old fiancée. Meanwhile, Shadow has caught the scent of Metal Sonic and is closing in.

Reviewer responses are at the end of the chapter.

Enjoy!

* * *

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

**Chapter 11: **"Stain"

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

* * *

Sleet and Dingo were walking the long metal halls of Robotnik's robot factory.

"Hey, Sleet…" Dingo said cringingly, looking up at his partner. "Dontcha think the Robotnik's acting a little—uh— y'know… Like…He's making all this new robots and makes everyone call him 'Doctor' and he's been ignoring us… He's also acting a little… weird. It's kinda scary—"

"Dingo, shut up." The grey wolf ordered. A fork came in the hall and Sleet turned swiftly down the left path, his purple cloak sweeping the ground behind him and Dingo scrambled to catch up to his long stride. Their footsteps clicked loudly on the polished floors and echoed around the empty halls. "The Doctor has eyes and ears everywhere."

Dingo winced, curling in on himself in a cowardly gesture that ill-fit his robust frame. The orange canid hybrid's beady eyes jerked around the room nervously until they fell on a small, rotating camera attached to the wall. The red recording light blinked apathetically as the lenses stared through Dingo, then looked away indifferently as the camera rotated to watch another area of the room. Dingo passed a hand through his long yellow hair. "Sleet…" He said, and it was almost a whine. Dingo was desperate for someone to talk to and he wasn't going to let it go that easily.

Sleet sighed, closing his eyes in exasperation. "Fine, fine. Come on, follow me. Quickly."

The wolf led the way through a long winding maze of halls and passages that confused and disoriented Dingo completely. Every long metal hall looked just like the last: panels of shiny silver metal covered the walls, ceiling, and floor; outlined in heavy rivets. Set at the point where the wall met the ceiling, on both sides of Dingo, were bright, tubular, fluorescent white lights.

And this area was only one wing of the old factory that was being renovated. The halls and passages were all brand new, barely a week old.

It was all only a small part of the changes Robotnik was making to Dingo's one nice, simple world.

Eventually, the duo came upon a door set so completely into the wall Dingo nearly overlooked it. Sleet struck the door with a purposeful shove and it swung open revealing pristine, white tiled washroom.

"Come on," Sleet urged with an impatient gesture of his hand. Dingo, after a short pause, quickly followed Sleet into the room and the door swung shut behind them. "It's one of the only places Robotnik hasn't bugged."

Dingo, hearing Sleet use 'Robotnik' instead of 'Doctor' realized the place was safe and he relaxed.

"Whew, man, Sleet. It's been like a prison 'round here lately—even more than usual." Dingo sighed.

"Don't let Robotnik hear you talking like that." Sleet warned, pointing a finger at Dingo. "You know he's changed these past few days. I swear, I thought he was going to roboticize you when you tripped and spilled his tea that time."

"Yeah…" Dingo thought back on the memory, remembering the look of pure, sinister fury on Robotnik's face with a cold shudder. He looked forlornly at his metallic hands. They, along with his left leg, knee down, had been partly roboticized long ago. "…Finish the job…" He murmured.

"You say something?" Sleet asked.

"No." Dingo shook his head. He then looked around at the tiles and perfect whiteness of the room around him. It was so unlike the dark, twisted, rusty metal he was used to seeing. "But really, Sleet; what's going on?"

It was Sleet's turn to sigh. "Honestly Dingo, I don't know. It was like Robotnik just went to sleep one night then woke up as something completely different: this 'Doctor' person. He's building robots left, right and centre… each one more vicious then the last. Did you see the monster he has in production right now? It has three Mega-K3 Torpedoes AND a level 4 Laser Cannon!"

Dingo gaped. He was in no way known for his smarts, but even he knew what firepower like that meant. This new robot would be able to level an entire city… _easily_.

Sleet ran a clawed hand through the silver tuft of mane at the top of his head. "It's like he has no limits anymore." The wolf said slowly. "His habits have changed; his attitude…"

"Stinks." Dingo supplied.

Sleet gave an idle nod. "And he's roboticized more mobians in the past two days than he usually does in two months! And it's not just that… I think you should stay away from him, Dingo." Sleet looked up at the other.

Dingo looked surprised. He wasn't expecting this sudden bout of protectiveness from Sleet. "Why?" He asked, confused.

"Robotnik's been a little… irritable, and his moods are all over the place lately… And, no offence Dingo, but you tend to test his nerves even when he's in a _good _mood." Sleet eyed Dingo carefully.

The canid hybrid just grinned sheepishly. "Alright, thanks Sleet."

Sleet ignored the gratitude and looked away. His muzzle twitched and he effused a short snuffling sound. Dingo took this as a 'You're welcome'.

"Hey Sleet, you've been kinda edgy lately. Is something wrong?" Dingo asked, figuring Sleet wanted to change the topic.

The wolf frowned deeply. "Well, I had a meeting with Robotnik a couple of days ago, you know that."

"Yeah…" Dingo said uncertainly. Technically Sleet hadn't phrased it as a question, but he felt the need to answer anyway.

"Let's just say that if we hadn't managed to catch that thief bat the other day we'd probably have more bolts than brains now; and you probably wouldn't be worrying about your metal leg pains anymore…"

"…Oh…" Dingo didn't really know what to say to that.

"And he was really serious about it. That's what got me." Sleet kept talking and he turned away from Dingo, folding his arms across his long torso. "He just looked me straight in the eye—_straight_, Dingo, he's gotten taller—and told me that I'd be a worthless heap of scrap metal right now if he didn't think I was still helpful. Usually he gets raging mad and throws a tantrum… but this time he was so completely _calm… _It was…" Sleet trailed off into silence.

Dingo tried to peer around his friend's back and get a glimpse of his expression but couldn't quite manage. From the tone though, Dingo would've almost guessed that Sleet was… scared… but that couldn't be right, could it?

"Sleet…" Dingo said uncertainly.

"Anyway," Sleet turned swiftly and his expression was unreadable. "You know that they, the robots, caught two of the triplets last night."

"Really?" Dingo was surprised. "Which two?"

"Sonia and Manic. Seems they were trying to pass themselves off as regular mobians and got caught by the lie detectors." Sleet sounded a little sulky. Dingo thought maybe he was unhappy that he hadn't been the one to catch the twins himself.

"And Sonic?" Dingo asked.

Sleet shook his head. "I don't know; I didn't hear anything about him. But I don't think he was caught."

"Oh…" Dingo looked down. There was silence for awhile. "Hey Sleet… You don't think Robotnik will hurt her, do you?" He couldn't help himself from asking, and they both knew who he was talking about. Dingo flushed, the red rose to the roots of his hair.

Sleet looked at Dingo closely. "Dingo, you know that Sonia is the Princess of Mobius, second in line to the throne. She is a danger to everything we want, everything we have!"

"I know, I know!" Dingo whined, not wanting to her this speech again. "But still…"

"Dingo, Robotnik isn't paying much attention to them right now. Probably because he's focussing all his attention on finding Sonic. But they _will _be roboticized, at the very least. You can bet on that."

"Yeah…" Dingo, downhearted, hung his head.

"Oh come one, don't be like that!" Sleet gave Dingo an awkward slap on the back before walking past him and heading to the door. "When you're depressed you're even more clumsy than normal, and I already talked to you about that!"

Dingo, effectively sidetracked by the comment, laughed. "Yeah, hyeh he, don't worry. You can always turn me into a brick or summthin' if I look like I'm gonna do summthin' stupid."

Sleet fingered the remote in his pocket. It was a device that, if used, had the power to morph Dingo into anything—living and nonliving. Sleet had no idea why or how the thing worked, only that Robotnik had given it to him—the same day he and Dingo had met—and told him how it worked.

Sleet had never questioned it. He knew from experience that asking Robotnik questions was a pointless and sometimes life-threatening experience. And Dingo couldn't even count past ten without looking at his feet, so the wolf didn't even bother asking him such a complex question.

Sleet roused himself from his thoughts and smirked. "Not like that would be a huge difference." He said.

Dingo, who'd already forgotten what they were talking about, took a little while to realize what Sleet was talking about. Once he did, his face scrunched up in indignation.

"Hey!"

Sleet just rolled his eyes and, placing a hand flat on Dingo's back, shoved him out the door.

"It's not just me! I mean, since when does Robotnik have _tea _anyway?"

"Dingo, shut up."

Unnoticed to both mobians though, in a secluded corner of the room, was a tiny vent on the grouns. And through the vent, down one floor and out the connecting vent leading into a lightless room, there stood two hedgehogs huddling near the wall, avidly listening to the quiet echoes of Sleet and Dingo's voice as they flittered in through wavering wisps of air.

* * *

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

* * *

"What are they saying Sonia?"

"Shh! Be quiet, Manic; I can't hear what they're saying. And stop shifting; I'm gonna fall!"

"Alright, alright, but you move your foot a little; your heel's digging into my shoulder."

There was a soft rustle of movement, then total silence for many minutes. Finally…

"Alright Manic, I'm coming down. I think they left the room."

There was a sigh and suddenly the support under Sonia's feet was gone. In the darkness, she couldn't see her hand in front of her face much less where Manic was beneath her. Yelping, she clawed the air blindly as she fell downward; but before she could hit the ground Sonia felt a pair of arms catch her deftly out of the air and swing her swiftly onto her feet.

Stumbling forward—and very thankful to feel the stable ground under her bare feet—Sonia gasped and turned around. Making an approximate guess of where Manic's head was in the dark, Sonia narrowed her eyes then swung out with an open palm.

SMACK!

"Ow! Geez Sonia! What was that for?" Manic whimpered. She couldn't see him in the heavy shadows, but Sonia could imagine clearly enough the expression he was probably wearing.

"Don't you EVER drop me like that again, do you hear me?" She shouted, hoping his ear was somewhere nearby and getting the full effect of her berating. "You nearly scared me half to death! I could have gotten seriously hurt! You couldn't even see me, how on Mobius could you have been sure you'd catch me?"

"Man Sonia, I caught you, so what's the big deal? Back when I was little, I lived underground with my family and the lights often got cut or shorted out. I know how to handle myself in the dark. Besides you were getting heavy, you're lucky I didn't drop you sooner."

Sonia's teeth clenched and she let out a low, throaty sound that was very close to a growl.

Manic, hearing the noise, wisely backed away. "Hey, I was kidding! Kidding! You take things way too seriously! Just… tell me what you heard Sleet and Dingo talking about."

Manic felt the tension in the room dissipate and let out a breath of air.

"Well…" Manic noted that that was Sonia's thinking voice, which meant she'd let her anger go for now. He sighed, relieved: Sonia was scary when she was angry.

"They were talking about Robotnik and how's been acting meaner recently: building robots and stuff. They sounded worried." Sonia paused.

Manic raised an eyebrow. Realizing belatedly that she couldn't see him he spoke aloud. "Sleet and Dingo, worried? Whoa, something must be majorly wrong for those to lunkheads to notice."

"No kidding," Sonia answered. "But we sorta knew that already. I mean, remember what we saw when we met Robotnik?"

"Yeah…" And Manic did remember. It had been a brief meeting: they'd been tossed at the man's feet and made to kneel while looking up at him. There was nothing immediately different about his appearance, aside from spouting up a foot and a half, but there was something deeper, something subliminal. Looking into the man's dark gaze, Manic had found his answer buried deep in those intimidating, menacing eyes. It was an aura that this man seemed to exude: one of power and arrogance. It was the way his lips curled arrogantly and he lifted one eyebrow cockily. It was the way he looked down at them, as though they were less than the dirt on his shoes.

And it was the way that he'd laughed—_laughed_—right in their faces, and shooed them away with a twitch of his hand—like they were nothing but children needing to be told to go to their room for misbehaving.

There was something _wrong _with Robotnik, Manic just didn't know what.

What disturbed him though, was that, in some ways, this change seemed to mirror Sonic's. Sonic also had changed, physically and mentally, and it couldn't just be a coincidence. But to mention this similarity would be like saying Sonic had lied to them… and Manic couldn't do that.

So he kept his mouth shut.

"What else were they saying?" He asked Sonia.

"Hmm…" Sonia started. "They mentioned another prisoner—"

"Sonic?" Manic interrupted, feeling an anxious twist in his stomach.

"No, a mobian, a bat, I think they said."

"Oh…OK." Manic was relieved that it wasn't Sonic. But still, to know that another mobian was imprisoned in the factory… "We have to help her."

"Yes, well, first we have to get _ourselves _out of _this _mess." Sonia's reply was wry.

"Hmph," Manic let out a sound that was somewhere in between a sigh and snort. "I know."

"Sleet and Dingo did mention though that Sonic wasn't found or captured." Sonia said speculatively.

"Huh? Really? How'd he manage to do that?" Manic asked, surprised.

"I don't know. But personally, I don't really care how he did it. I'm just glad he did. At least he know he's out there and not trapped somewhere."

"Right." Manic agreed. "But we can't just wait for Sonic to come around and save us; there should be something we can do. But wait, was that all they said?"

"More or less." Sonia answered. "How about we try our instruments?"

Manic thought about that for a second. "It's a good idea; but why don't you bring out your keyboard first? We don't know if there's enough space for my drums."

By way of answer there came a flash of pink light so bright Manic had to avert his eyes. When it dies down he saw the softly glowing keyboard in Sonia's hands. The residual energy lit up Sonia's form along with some of the room around them.

It was a good thing Manic had hesitated in bringing out his drums. The room was more or less a small square box and, though there was enough room for them to stand comfortably, his drum set would never have fit the span of the width of the room.

In the now glowing, pink-lit room, Manic saw that there were no doors or windows in this box like room they were trapped in. The only exits were the small vent that was too tiny for even Sonia to fit through, and a larger square hole cut in the ceiling and covered by an thick iron grate. Passed the gate Manic couldn't make out anything, it was too dark.

If Manic were to make a guess, he'd say that that was were they'd been dropped through into the room.

"Can you fire your laser up there? See if it can melt the bars or something." Manic said to Sonia.

He heard the telltale whirring of energy gathering and looked back to see Sonia crouching down and aiming one end of the keyboard at the grate. "Way ahead of you, little brother."

Manic groaned. "Guh! I hate it when you call—"

The laser finished charging and Sonia let out a beam of light through her keyboard right at the grate. Almost immediately, it hit the metal and, with a bright flash, rebounded right off it straight back at Sonia.

Manic didn't even have time to yell; he just threw himself at Sonia and tackled them both out of the way. They rolled over one another, slammed into the wall of the room, and fell back in a heap of limps and spikes.

"Ooh wow, thanks Manic." Sonia moaned, pulling herself slowly to her feet. "I owe you one."

"Naw…" Manic, also wobbling to his feet, grinned. "S'all right. Just never call me 'little brother' again and we'll call it even."

Sonia laughed. "Alright, baby brother."

"Hey!"

They laughed, but after just a few seconds it started to sound painful and forced and it puttered away into nothing; after which a long, awkward silence fell. Manic looked over to Sonia, who was staring down at the still glowing keyboard in her hands. He knew, and she knew, without speaking, that they were in huge trouble. If their weapons couldn't get them out then they had no backup; they'd have to just sit back and wait.

Wait… until either someone came to save them…

…Or Robotnik came to get rid of them.

A low, soothing melody rose in a smooth crescendo and Manic looked back at Sonia. Her fingers were ghosting over the keys and she was playing a soft melody in some minor key. Manic could've have picked the key out if he'd wanted, but instead he settled for just listening.

For a while nothing was said between them. Sonia played and Manic listened. And they stayed that way until.

"Hey! Is someone down there? Hello?"

In a flash Manic and Sonia were on their feet, looking up and straining their eyes in the meagre light to see who was at the grating above them.

"Hello? Hello?" Sonia called. "We're down here, we need help! Are you there?"

There came the sound of shuffling, then a click and a bright flashlight turned on. The beam flickered down and Sonia squinted as it hit her directly in the eyes.

"Huh, well, you don't look like robots, and it does seem like you're stuck. So I'm gonna take your word for it and give you a hand." The voice, distinctly female, said.

"Thank you!" Sonia grinned. "That's amazing! Please, though, who are you?"

The light was set aside and the figure leaned forward. Manic and Sonia were then greeted to the sight of a very curvy silhouette, sharp, glistening fangs and tiny, bat wings.

"You may call me Rouge the Bat."

* * *

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

* * *

Shadow cursed under his breath as his foot caught, again, in an uneven patch of land and his resulting stumble nearly sent him flying off his feet. When running at some odd sixty or seventy kilometres per hour in a forested area a stumble could be potentially lethal. Especially when the momentum alone could lead to a rather unpleasant meeting of his neck and a random, conveniently placed tree branch.

Shadow cursed again, and slowed. This was not going to work.

He'd been chasing Metal Sonic for hours, trailing him and his army of robots undetected over miles of land. But then his old wounds had started acting up.

At first it'd been just a mere prickling around his ankle—Shadow had remembered, with some irritation, how he'd rolled the very same ankle two nights ago—and he'd largely ignored it.

But then his arm—the one the E-900 had nearly skewered—had begun to throb.

His arm and his ankle, both had been injured when he'd fought the robots in the forest the night before last. Since that fight, Shadow had not bothered to tend to his wounds. Indeed in the alternate past it had never been an issue.

Shadow never got sick. He never got infections and his healing ability was nothing short of preternatural.

He used to be able to go to sleep with numerous injuries—side-effects of the intense training he received on the ARK—and wake up with tender, but perfectly healed scars the next morning.

But for some reason, when time had folded in on itself and changed, he had changed along with it. No longer did he possess the skill of speed healing. Unfortunately, old habits die hard and Shadow had neglected the cut on his arm and his tender ankle, assuming they would just heal and disappear if he ignored them.

They, of course, did no such thing. And now his ankle had swollen to twice its normal size and his arm pulsed in a tempo that echoed his heartbeat.

He was loosing energy and he was loosing strength and he knew it.

Shadow scowled; and if the look had been any darker the very grass would have wilted before him.

"Master, Master! Is something the matter?" A small head poked out from the scarf around his neck and Suzu looked around with bleary, tired eyes, his feathers sticking up in all odd directions. "You were muttering strange words and you look kinda scary. Oh I know! I know!" Suzu clicked his beak excitedly. "You're still upset about not getting much sleep last night. You woke up way too early! Why don't you sleep now, like Suzu? When Suzu can't sleep, Suzu's mother used to sing a lullaby. Does Master want Suzu to sing a lullaby too?" The bird was getting more and more exciting with each passing second and Shadow had to physically put a hand over Suzu's head to stop him from hopping out of the scarf.

"Stop Suzu. Now is not a good time. Go back to sleep." Shadow's voice was not loud, but something in the tone must have convinced Suzu because the little bird snuggled back into the scarf and closed his eyes without complaint.

Shadow sighed and looked around himself. He knew the decision he had to make and yet he still hesitated.

As far as he knew, he was the only one pursing the emeralds and Metal Sonic. He had no back-up, no safety net should he not get their in time. There was only him. Period.

But if he got into a fight with Metal Sonic now… In his condition…

He would loose. Shadow was not arrogant enough—or rather, his mind was too calculating—to allow himself to think otherwise.

Shadow raised his head and looked thoughtfully at the thick, wild tangle of dusty brown bushes and trees on his right. There was a city near here, to the west, he was fairly certain. A relatively large community: the city of Kelas—City of the Setting Sun—was only a few kilometres away. He would find rest there, and a medic.

But did he dare to deviate from his path?

He had no idea where Metal Sonic was heading, only that his goal was to reach the chaos emeralds. And Shadow didn't know how far away the emeralds were; if robots would reach them tomorrow or in two weeks from now. By taking the detour to this city he would loose valuable time in his pursuit. Could he take that risk?

Shadow took an experimental step forward, pressing weight onto his swollen ankle. He then grimaced contemptuously as the ankle twitched awkwardly, sending a spark of pain up his calf and shin simultaneously. Skating was not so bad; he could use the chaos energy to keep himself afloat in the air and avoid putting weight on the foot. But if just the simple act of walking was this difficult…

Shadow frowned at this new revelation of his body's limits. He was used to being omnipotent in his abilities and stamina; this new weakness was disconcerting.

Nonetheless, the decision had to be made; and Shadow never made wrong decisions.

He turned, called power to his skates—which lit up, levitated him off the ground with a pulse of orange-white energy—and without another moment of hesitation, sped off into the trees heading west.

* * *

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

* * *

_'Must not kill Bartleby. Must not kill Bartleby…'_

"Hey Sonic, old chap. I say, Are we out of this sordid mudpit yet? My feet are beginning to ache."

_'Must not kill Bartleby…'_

"So-o-nic! Really, you can't expect me to step on _that!_ It's all dirty and… rusty! Rust stains never come out of clothes, I'll have you know!"

_'Must not kill snobby, stuck-up…'_

"And really, what is _with _that morbid, black cape you're wearing? You look like the grim reaper for goodness sake! It's not Halloween you know; or is it for some other peasant holiday I don't know of?"

_'Must not kill stupid, arrogant, smarmy…arrogant… stuck-up…' _And Sonic was out of descriptive adjectives.

Honestly, when he'd gotten his memories back from the alternate future he thought he'd gained some wisdom and patience along with it. But either he was just as short-tempered as always or Bartleby had some sort of amazing talent in pushing his buttons and infuriating him.

Sonic was leading the way through the underground dungeon as they looked for a way to go up. Bartleby trailed behind him cringing away from the walls and complaining about every speck of dirt on his once immaculate white—now beige—ruffled collar. Sonic, on his part, had left his hood down and the goggles dangled around his neck. He didn't bother to put them on, figuring if they got caught his cover would be blown anyway.

"And Sonic, I have to ask: what on Mobius is with that new look of yours? Have your eyes always been that ghastly colour? And you do realize you're as thin as a rake; that's a glaring sign of poverty you know… Well actually, I don't expect you to understand; but I do hope you aren't forcing my poor Sonia to follow your diet. She has a certain reputation to uphold!"

Infuriated could not accurately describe the red clouding Sonic's eyes as he whirled on Bartleby.

"Ok, let's get one thing straight. I am the leader. I tell you what to do and you listen and follow it. Period. I say what we're doing, where we're going and when we get there. Your job is to _shut up _and follow me. I'm serious. I don't want to hear _anything _from you. No idiotic comments, no fashion tips or even a loud exhale; or I _will _leave you behind for the robots to find. Got it?" Sonic's eyes flashed and he raised one index finger as he spoke, pointing it directly between the mink's pale golden eyes.

Bartleby looked shocked, appalled and scared all at one. Sonic realized it was a fitting look for him. "Eep!" Bartleby squeaked. Then, realizing he wasn't supposed to say anything, clapped a hand over his mouth and nodded.

Sonic eyed the mink for a few moments longer, just enough to make him fidget, then turned away with a satisfied nod. "Good. I'm glad we could work something out. Now come on, we're getting out, but not before we save Sonia and Manic."

Bartleby momentarily forgot his vow of silence when he heard this. "Sonia's here? You brought me fiancée—" His mouth immediately snapped shut when Sonic sent him a smouldering look that could've melted stone.

"First thing, Sonia is not your fiancée anymore. Second, of course she and Manic are here; you think I'm searching this place just for fun? And finally, you just used up your warning. Next time you talk you will regret it."

Bartleby opened his mouth, thought better of it, and closed it again. Though the look on his face showed that he was anything but happy about it.

For a time they just walked up and down dark, narrow halls and staircases in silence. They were steadily making their way upward while avoiding robots and open spaces. So far everything was going to plan.

Then Bartleby got bored.

"Oh come on, Sonic, there hasn't been a robot around in ages. I'm telling you they're all on the lower levels! Let's just go out to the main room and look and see—quickly—if we can see the top of the room. It's only a quick peek, c'mon!" Bartleby was one step short of whining and tugging childishly on Sonic's cape.

Sonic crossed his arms and shook his head. "No." He said.

"Oh c'mon, you're such a paranoid prude. I'm sure I remember you being nothing like this just a few months ago. You used to quite enjoy adventure." The mink, trying a new tactic, teased Sonic.

"We all grow up eventually." Sonic sighed, refusing to be baited. Bartleby's perceptiveness did put Sonic on edge though; he hadn't known the differences between his old personality and new could be spotted so easily by a virtual stranger.

"Oh fine," Bartleby leaned back. "Then I'll just have to—"

Suddenly a shrill waling siren pierced through the air and a light of bright crimson turned on above them before beginning to rotate rapidly.

Sonic stared up with widened eyes. "Oh no! The alarm! They must have spotted either your empty cell or mine. We've gotta get outta here. _Now._" And Sonic grabbed Bartleby's hand in a tight, vicelike grip before breaking out into a run—practically dragging Bartleby behind him.

The wailing became louder, and was soon joined by the ominous buzz of flying robots. Sonic skidded to a halt in front of a large waste disposal. In the front there were robots. In the back there were robots, there was no where else left to go but…

"Oh no!" Bartleby, following Sonic's gaze had immediately guessed what he was thinking. "No way am I going down that filthy hole! It's a bacteria infested… awful, horrid—AH!" Ignoring Bartleby's protests, Sonic had thrown open the lid. Bartleby had reared backward, pinching his nose and waving his other hand side-to-side in front of it.

Ignoring the mink's antics, Sonic looked down the long, dark chute. Deciding it would be best to test it first, he threw a stone down into the dark hole. But the clattering it made as fell could have just been from it hitting the side of the chute. Sonic thought for a moment…a better way to do it would be…

Sonic grinned, tugged on his white gloves and prepared himself.

Then, in a swift, sudden motion, he grabbed Bartleby by the back of the shirt and tossed him bodily into the hole. The boy's high pitched screams echoed down the chute creepily—they were undeniably girly, which made them even creepier—and rising and falling, gradually becoming quieter, until there was a dull '_poff_'' sound and Sonic waited.

For a few seconds no sound came from the chute; and so Sonic called down asking how Bartleby was.

"Disgusted. Filthy, putrid and I can smell old socks. Does that answer your question?"

Sonic gave a bark of laughter. Then, seating himself on the edge of the chute, he used his hands to push himself into the darkness with a muffled yell—only just managing to reach behind himself and close the door as he fell.

* * *

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

**End Chapter**

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

* * *

And that, folks, is the latest instalment… and also a fairly long chapter—a little bit of everything in this one—so please tell me what you thought!

**Freightrain: **Yeah, poor Shadow huh? He won't even let himself linger on the memories, just puts them away and plugs right along… And now, shock of shocks, he's discovered a weakness in himself! XD Heehee, I love torturing him WAY too much ;p As for putting more characters in the chapter, well there was some Sonia and Manic in this one.. and even some Sleet and Dingo! (Though I don't know how many people actually cared too much about what was going on with them XDD). Hope you enjoyed!

**Pokelad: **Haha! Yup! Bartleby noticed… sort of (smirk). But then, what more can we really expect from our pompous, arrogant, stuck-up mink? XD

**Kinda-Mayvelle: **Yay! Aww… you're so nice. Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying this fic so much! I mean, I love writing it; but it's a totally different feeling to know that someone else loves reading it… you know what I mean? (Or am I rambling now? XP) The flashbacks at the beginning of the last chapter were purely spontaneous. I hadn't planned on them at all and then suddenly they just popped into my head… it was odd, but I was sort of proud of it when I finished writing it; so it's awesome that you liked that part :3

**Claamchowder: **Hiya! Well, here's the update! Hope you enjoyed! I explained a little bit about who Bartleby is in the chapter, so I hope that cleared things up for you!

**VampireCabbit: **Haha, oh yeah? I think I remember your fic… did you ask me to read it on Mediaminer once (I'm sorry if I'm wrong; it's been a long time XDD)? As for putting the story on Hiatus… well… actually it was, for a long time. Recently though, I took it off and have been doing my best to update (sporadically, but not too rarely). Anyway, so yeah, I updated XD Hope you liked.

**FamusJamus:** Heya! Yay! That's awesome, I'm so glad you like it!... and yeah, the concept IS a little odd huh? But don't question my weird, thirteen year-old brain's story ideas. I used to be a little insane maniac, good thing I grew out of it, huh? XD (Or maybe I've just accepted it… o.O') And don't worry, I plan on finishing this story…No matter how long it takes! Hehe. But seriously, I'll try not to take too long to update (sheepish grin).

**Sonic on the Run: **Hi! Wow, thank you! I'm glad you like this story so much! (Huge grin) I hope you liked the chapter!

**GHOST PHANTOM: **Yay! Here's the update, didja like?

**moviestar155: **Heya! Thanks for the awesome review! Hope you enjoyed the update!

**Adio!**

**Sholay**


	13. Collision Course

**Lost Memories, Reborn Evil**

_Sholay_

Yay! Yay, yay, yay! More than 50 reviews! I'm so happy (claps)!

* * *

That being said however, I have a **NOTICE** for all of you: **From January to April I will be gone to France—yes, **_**France**_**—to study in French. Now, during this time I will do my best to update, but I am not sure how much access I will have to the internet.** Sorry guys! I really can't make any promises for the updating scheme over the next four months…

* * *

**Summary of story thus far****:** Sonic is traveling with his brother and sister—Manic and Sonia—when he suddenly has a dream about an alternate past. This past includes all his adventures with the freedom fighters up until the incident on the ARK when they were swept into a black hole; only to be thrown back in time to a universe where everything, everyone, is different. Now it's a race to see who can find the chaos emeralds first. Last chapter, Rouge unexpectedly appears to aid a trapped Manic and Sonia. Meanwhile, Sonic and Bartleby, trying to escape capture, jump down a garbage disposal.

Reviewer responses are at the end of the chapter.

Enjoy!

* * *

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

**Chapter 12: **"Collision Course"

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

**

* * *

**

At the sound of the bat's name, Sonia saw Manic physically jerk, the word hitting him like a slap in the face.

"No way!" The green Hedgehog gasped, then squinted upward. The cell they were trapped in was dark: the only exit a miniature square cut into the ceiling—covered with heavy iron grating. Their would-be saviour was shinning a blinding light through the grating, making it difficult to pick out her features. Nonetheless, Manic appeared to be trying. "Rouge! Rouge! Is that really you?! It's me, Manic!" He cried excitedly, waving his gloved hands above his head.

Sonia raised an eyebrow at her brother's words. Did he know this mobian?

"Manic?" The female voice held a tone of surprise and disbelief. "The skinny little brat from Toora's Den?" The beam of light shifted to rest fully on Manic's head. He squinted, shielding his eyes with one hand, but grinned widely. "Well I'll be!" There came a sound of a sharp breath being drawn in quickly between teeth. "It _is _you; I'd recognize that rat's nest anywhere! What're you doing in a place like this? I thought your old man taught you better than that. And who's your little friend, hmmm?" The light flickered over to Sonia as the bat's voice lowered meaningfully.

Realizing what Rouge was implying, Sonia and Manic exchanged twin looks of horror.

"NO!" The both cried at the same time.

Sonia shook her head vigorously. "Nonononono, it's not like that; we're—"

"Rouge, just get us outta here first!" Manic interrupted, trying to be reasonable and ignore his mortification. "_Then _we can do the introductions."

"Yes…" Rouge clucked her tongue thoughtfully. "You _are _in a bit of a pickle, aren't you, hun? Well, sit tight; I'll see what I can do." The beam of the flashlight receded as she moved away from the grating.

"Can you break it?" Sonia called out.

There was a short pause; then Rogue's voice answered distantly, "No… The bars are too strong. I'm looking for a release switch or something."

Silence fell after that as Sonia and Manic waited.

"So…" Sonia asked eventually, eyeing Manic. "Who's she?"

"Oh, Rouge?" Manic clarified, cocking his head. The feeble light glinted off his teeth as his lips pulled into a crooked grin. "Rouge is… Actually, she's an old mentor of mine." Sonia's eyebrows rose once more and Manic nodded. "Really!" He insisted. "Do you remember when I told you about my old man's friend, Toora?"

Sonia thought back. That stormy night they'd passed in their trailer seemed so long ago: so much stuff had happened since then. But Sonia remembered and she nodded. "Yeah, I do."

"Well, Toora had his own little group of…uh…well…" Manic trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

Sonia's mouth twitched and she sent him a wry look. "Thieves." She finished.

"Yep," Manic didn't even bother to dispute it. "Rouge was one of them. Her specialty was stealing jewels: any type, any size. If it glittered, she wanted it. Man she loved those things; I swear she treated them like they were her children." Manic chuckled. "She was also really good at pulling off distractions and buying us time."

"Huh…" Sonia thought that last point was an odd one to make. "Why was she so good at distractions?" She wanted to know.

"Ahhhh…" Manic faltered and Sonia didn't even need to see her brother's face to know he was blushing furiously. She could practically feel the heat coming off his face as he coughed, clearing his throat. "Uhmm… wuh-well… You'll…er… see, she—"

Unexpectedly, a loud cry of shock interrupted the twins' conversation.

"Rouge?!" Manic called out, alarmed.

And the siblings watched, stunned, as the ceiling literally _tilted_. Turning on an angle, light streamed into the prison from above as the ceiling slanted suddenly, violently. Manic and Sonia got a brief view of the room above when they spotted a small figure scrambling for a handhold on the rapidly sloping surface.

Rogue clawed at the ground which had inexplicably began to shift under her weight. Too soon, the surface tilted; she couldn't stabilize herself. Her feet fell out from underneath her, she hit the perfectly polished floor hard and slid downward fast. Immediately, her hand snapped out behind herself, claws scratching madly at the floor—reaching for any handhold. But the floor was too slippery and all her nails did was create a painful screeching as she plummeted downward.

Cursing herself all the way down, Rouge tumbled into the dark prison cell where Sonia and Manic were standing, watching helplessly. Managing to at least gain control of her descent, she flipped herself over in mid-air, landing in a low crouch that saved her more dignity than slamming face-first into the floor.

As soon as Rouge's feet touched the ground the ceiling stopped slanting. There came a deep, grinding sound of shifting gears and the ceiling swung back up—surprisingly fast—slamming shut then locking with a crisp, mocking click.

Silence reigned for a long moment.

"Oookay…" Manic intoned. It was almost pitch black and no one saw the green hedgehog scratch the back of his head. "…That didn't work out very well…"

"No kidding, squirt." Rouge intoned dryly from somewhere to Manic's left.

"But," Sonia's voice floated over. "What—"

Just then there came the sound of a switch being flicked and the low hum of a generator starting up.

With a crackling buzz, fluorescent lights turned on, abruptly flooding the room in bright white light.

Sonia and Manic cried out in surprise at the unexpected onslaught and shielded their eyes. Rouge cringed but didn't appear as affected by the sudden brightness. Quickly blinking away the blind spots in his eyes, Manic wasted no time in scanning the room for his old friend.

"Rouge!" He grinned, seeing her properly for the first time in years.

"Manic!" Rogue's full lips curled upward to reveal long, pointed canines. In a second she had stepped forward, sweeping the shorter hedgehog into a tight hug. "Wow, you've grown. And it is so good to see you again; I've missed you!"

"I-I…A..uhhh…" Words escaped Manic as his cheeks discovered a new shade of red. He was clutched tightly to Rogue and felt rather… _more_… pressed up against him than he was used to.

Sonia eyed the pair curiously. So this was Rogue? The pink hedgehog '_Hmm'_ed disapprovingly in her head.

The female bat was clearly a few years older than herself and Manic. With glossy white fur, large sea-green eyes and sleek purple wings, she was actually quite pretty. What Sonia _didn't_ like was how the bat's skin tight outfit seemed to hug her every curve, and how the top—shaped in a distinctly heart shaped pattern—curved downward, revealing… a lot.

Well,—Sonia raised an eyebrow, her eyes moving over Rouge's long lashes and down to her pointed heels—at least now she knew why Rogue was so good at distractions.

As her gaze fell on her little brother, she smirked at the way Manic's face was practically glowing red as he was held by the female bat. Just as she was about to step in and save her brother though, Rouge pulled back and held Manic at arm's length.

"But look at you! Still as scrawny as ever!" Rogue slapped Manic's arm teasingly.

"Hey!" He cried, glaring playfully at her. Some of the heat died down from his face as the conversation took more of his attention. And if Rouge noticed the blush on Manic's cheeks she didn't show it.

'_Probably used to it.' _Sonia thought critically. Honestly, she tried not to judge Manic's old friends, but she couldn't help it if she had certain… _reservations._

"Now, I hope you've been keeping up your training…" Rouge appeared to be lecturing Manic as she put a hand on her hip and wagged a finger at him. "You better not have been neglecting your studying while I was gone!"

"Ahh, no, 'course not!" Manic looked a little sheepish. Sonia knew it was because he hadn't exactly had much time to 'practice' while he was traveling with her and Sonic; and he was scrambling to hide that fact. "I still remember everything you taught me about jewels…Like how fake diamonds have double refractions and real ones don't…" His answer appeared to appease Rouge.

"That's good, kid." She ruffled his hair idly, making him jump back with an indignant squawk as he brought his hands up to fix the spikes. "Now tell me," Her eyes slid over to Sonia, regarding the girl as heavily painted eyelids fell half-way. She gave the hedgehog a crafty look. "Who's the lady?" Rogue took a couple of long strides toward Sonia, then circled around the pink hedgehog.

Taken aback at how intensely Rogue was looking at her, Sonia just gasped and swung around to look the bat in the face. Irritation bubbled within her as she saw Rouge's mischievous grin.

Sonia huffed, "Now, excuse me but—"

"_**So! How are you enjoying my accommodations? I arranged them just for you."**_

As one, Sonia, Manic and Rouge spun around to gaze at the far wall of their prison. There, on a screen projected into the wall, was Robotnik's grinning visage leering down at the trio.

"Robotnik!" Rouge hissed venomously.

"_**Ah, Rouge, my dear. I should have known they were talking about you when they said we had a rat infestation."**_ Robotnik's beady eyes focused on Rogue as he sneered. Manic and Sonia looked at the bat, surprised that Robotnik knew who she was. Rogue ignored the twins as she glared darkly at the man on the screen.

"I know it's here; where did you hide it?" She demanded.

"_**Ah yes, you always had sticky fingers, I guess some things will never change." **_Robotnik picked at his fingernails. "_**But then again, I don't remember you being **_**this **_**easy to catch. You're getting rusty, dear."**_

Rouge bristled.

"_**At any rate, I know what you were looking for. And I'm insulted; you really thought I'd make it so easy!"**_ Robotnik laughed, clutching at his gut and rearing back in fearsome mirth.

"You! I knew you had it!" Rouge raged, baring her teeth at the monitor. "One was missing—that was the one Shadow had—but I knew there was something wrong. There was another. A fake! I knew it! You took it; the white chaos emerald! Where is it?!"

Manic glanced at Rouge wryly when she said this. He should have known; she was here searching for some jewel.

Robotnik's laughter faded, his whiskers twitching, "_**Now, I'd love to sit here and discuss your failure, but I'm afraid I have some more pressing matters to attend to. So you just sit tight and wait like a good girl, ok? I'll come dispose of you when I have time."**_

Realizing Robotnik was going to turn off the screen without addressing her or Manic, Sonic stepped forward. "Hey! HEY!" She called. "What about us!? You can't just leave us here!"

"_**Hm…?"**_ Robotnik looked at Sonia in mild surprise, as though he'd forgotten she was even there. "_**Oh yes. You and your brother can just wait there too. In fact, the only reason I'm keeping you around is because I'm sure your older brother will show up to rescue you. Heroic fool that he is. You remember, don't you, Rouge?" **_ And Robotnik gave the bat one last, knowing smirk before the projection cut off and the wall was once again a blank expanse of space.

"Huh…? What did Robotnik mean by that?" Sonia frowned to herself.

"'Buttnik's acting even weirder than usual…" Manic answered. Then he turned to Rogue. "How do you know him, Rouge?"

But Rouge didn't seem to hear the question. Her hand was near her mouth, her expression that of someone reaching a shocking epiphany. "You… Robotnik said…" Rogue's eyes lit up and focused on Manic with such intensity that he stepped back. "You… she…" Rogue's eyes went to Sonia. "She's your sister?"

"Yeah… This is Sonia." Manic said uncertainly, gesturing toward his sister uncertainly.

"Sonia?" Rouge repeated; and her eyes widened, shifting to Sonia.

The pink hedgehog raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, So?" She asked.

"Then… then… _No way!_" Rogue gaped. "You're THAT Manic?!"

"Huh?" Manic was confused.

"Prince Manic?" Rogue clarified, still looking stunned.

"…Er… Yeah," Manic grinned, embarrassedly. "Go figure, huh?"

But that didn't seem to be the point Rouge was building up to. "So then… the brother Robotnik was talking about… It's _Sonic_?"

"Yeah…" Sonia's eyes narrowed suspiciously. Usually people knew the names of the princes and princess of Mobius, but the way Rouge said Sonic's name was like she knew him personally. "You know Sonic?"

"KNOW him?! Ha! Hahahaa…" Without warning, Rouge doubled over laughing and Sonia looked at her as though she'd lost her mind. Even Manic looked concerned. "Oh my goodness…" Rouge wiped her eyes. "Sonic… _Prince_ Sonic! Heir apparent! I still can't get over that…"

"Well… yeah…" Sonia admitted. "It was a little hard for us to swallow too…"

"But if you knew! His just… The last thing he ever thought of himself as was… But… ah…" Rouge waved her hand. "I'm getting ahead of myself here." She calmed, but still had an uncontrollable twitching at the corner of lips as they tried to pull back up into a grin.

"How do you know Sonic?" This time it was Manic who asked the question.

"Oh… I was on a job. Our goals happened to coincide and he helped me out of a fix." Rouge's answer was carefully ambiguous, that secretive smile remaining intact on her face.

"Sonic helped you steal something?" Manic asked incredulously, Sonia's expression mirrored Manic's tone.

"Oh no, no," Rouge waved the comment away. "Of course not. He's too golden for that." She chuckled, as though she'd just made some private joke. "No, we were doing a little… _recon _mission at one of Robotnik's ops. Fun times…" Rouge's eyes seemed to go misty for a second and Sonia couldn't help but wonder exactly _what _sort of mission this bat had gone on with her older twin.

"Anyway." Rouge shook herself back into the present. "Now's not the time to be thinking about that, I guess. We gotta find a way outta here; I've got my own business to take of after all." Rogue grinned in a way that made her pointed canines gleam ferally.

"What business is that?" Manic asked.

"Uh, I'm afraid that's classified, kid." Rouge patted Manic on the head, much to his chagrin. "But at any rate, I'm getting bored of this place." She flexed her hand. "What say we mess things up a little?"

Sonia and Manic grinned.

* * *

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

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After many long hours of traveling, Knuckles and Tails had finally arrived at Robotropolis.

Tails stopped his motorcycle behind some overgrown, dehydrated bushes—safely out of sight from the towering gates of the city—and swung his leg over the front of the bike, hopping off sprightly with energy to spare.

After a few moments of silence, Tails raised his eyebrows at his only passenger.

"Not. A. Word." Knuckles bit out between clenched teeth. He was still straddling the bike and seemed in no rush to budge.

Tail, realizing his friend's problem, had to stuff a fist in his mouth to stifle his laughter. "Stuck?" He managed to ask innocently in between giggles.

Knuckles' glower could have melted stone.

Once Knuckles had successfully detached himself from the seat, and had regained his ability to walk without a limp, they sat down to discuss their plans.

"Ok… So basically, we gotta get in there, rescue Sonic, and get out." Tails was seated against a large boulder. Figuring that a bright red motorcycle would probably draw attention, they'd walked the bike over to a thicker area of bush and trees before laying it on its side and shoving leaves over it. Tails had been reluctant to leave his beloved bike in such an undignified manner but Knuckles had been adamant. His argument—that Tails was not going to endanger their lives, and Sonic's, because he wanted to get prissy over a piece of metal—was a convincing one. Now they were sitting under a thick canopy of sagging trees, munching on what little they'd found stashed in Tail's bags.

"Remember," Knuckles added, gesturing with a half eaten apple. "His brother and sister supposedly travel with him. He wouldn't leave them behind so, chances are, if he's in there they probably are too."

"Great…" Tails groaned, raking a hand through the white tuft of hair on his head. "And we don't even know for sure if Sonic is even IN there… I mean, c'mon, Sonic's not one to stay caught, no matter what Eggman has up his sleeve… So we could be trying to rescue him when he's already escaped. Worse, we could be blindly walking into a trap…"

"Let's not think about that." Knuckles said firmly. "We're going to do this regardless, so there's no point in second guessing ourselves. If things start to go south we can figure it out from there."

"There're too many variables anyway." Tails sighed. "Chances are, Sonic's being held in the palace. But do you know how HUGE that place is? Seriously, the living quarters alone cover over ten floors. And after Eggman took over he converted them all to dungeons…"

Knuckles looked at Tails sideways. "How do you even _know _that?"

Tails shrugged, the shadow of a smug grin on his face. "I know things." He said simply, to a dubious 'Uh _huh_' from Knuckles. "Hey, you've got your interests; mine just happen to be more 'this century'."

Knuckles raised an eyebrow.

"So I did a little research! It's not my fault Eggman's got such awful security." Tails reached into the pocket of his biker jacket and pulled out a small device. He poked the screen a few times and then a holographic image appeared above it, rotating slowly. "See, with my iCAN I'm able to access practically any tech center connected to the web and I—"

"You _hacked _into Robotropolis?!" Knuckles coughed on a piece of apple.

"Not completely." Tails frowned at the hologram in dissatisfaction: tongue caught between his teeth. "I couldn't get past this one series of code… I can tell you though that our best bet would be to get _into _the castle. Then, if I can find a computer connected to the central control system, I can find out if anyone matching Sonic—or the others'—descriptions have been imprisoned in the city."

"Nice…" Knuckles said appreciatively. "So we got a plan."

"I guess." Tails said half-heartedly. "Not a very full-proof one though."

"Better than no plan, which is what we were working with before." Knuckles stood up, tossing his apple core into the foliage and gazed down at Tails with conviction in his eyes. "Look, it's better to make a decision and stick with it rather than moping about indecisively, right?"

Tails relented, grinned and stood. "You're right."

"Of course I am," Knuckles said arrogantly and Tails gave a short laugh, punching the echidna lightly in the arm.

"Ok, let's go."

After a few minutes of walking, duo found themselves standing before the tall, intimidating walls of Robotropolis. Like a high security prison, the metal monstrosity loomed over them, looking virtually impenetrable.

Knuckles took one look at the walls, slipped his digging claws onto his hands, and thrust his fist into the metal. There was a sharp '_pang' _and the gleaming metal dented, but when Knuckles jiggled his hand the claw held tightly in the wall. He smirked.

"See you at the top?" He threw a look over his shoulder at Tails.

The kitsune flapped his tails and in a few seconds he was floating above the ground; he threw a cocky grin at Knuckles before rapidly speeding up. He swept past Knuckles, nearly giving the echidna a mouthful of fur as he smacked him in the face with his tails

"Race ya!"

* * *

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

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"Ew… Augh! My Gods, I think I just stepped on someone's dinner. Sonic, I can't handle much more of this; if we don't find the exit soon—"

"Shh!" Sonic snapped, putting a finger to his lips. "I think I see a way out."

"Oh, jolly good!" Bartleby brightened considerably. "Now we can get out of this putrid depository. Do you think they have any good dry cleaners in Robotropolis? Maybe we can even find a nice place to stay; I'm positively famished—"

"Quiet, Bartleby! Or do you want to bring all of Eggman's army down on us?" Sonic's tone was harsh enough to make the mink stumble into silence, and the hedgehog sighed with relief. After they'd taken the plunge into the garbage disposal, Bartleby had been talking non-stop. Maybe it was his way of coping with being on the run while traveling through darkness, dirt and grim but Sonic had no pity left for the pompous mink. Whatever patience he'd had had evaporated within the first ten seconds of the mobian's inane babble.

The garbage chute had lead to a sort of underground cave area. The place was dimly lit by sparse naked bulbs dangling on exposed wires that sparked spasmodically. From the darkness, a creepy '_plip plip' _of dripping water echoed around them.

Everything from warped pieces of metal to old socks could be found in the heaps of garbage that lined the walls of the cave. There was a narrow path cutting between the heaps of trash—for which Sonic was eternally grateful. The mink behind him was already balking at having to walk _near _the trash—his steps were so reluctant and ginger that Sonic had to force himself not to turn and drag Bartleby behind him by the ear—Sonic didn't want to think about how Bartleby would've reacted to walking _through _the filth.

Eventually though, Sonic saw a light at the end of the tunnel. Not literally, but the light off one of the bulbs had illuminated the metal rungs of a ladder heading upward. Repressing the urge to leap for joy, Sonic hurried over to the ladder—leaving Bartleby to pick his way over alone—and swung himself upward with practiced ease.

At the top of the ladder, Sonic widened his stance, balancing precariously on the rungs as he pressed both his palms flat to the heavy, iron manhole cover. Pushing upward with all his strength, Sonic raised the disk a few inches and rolled to the side. A thin crescent of light shone through the space he'd created and Sonic peered out from underneath.

'_Oh this is not good.'_

The manhole exited to directly in the middle of one of the largest, most open streets in Robotropolis. As if this wasn't bad enough, Sonic had been gazing out of the tiny opening for barely twenty seconds and already three squads of robots had passed so closely he thought they'd step on his nose.

So many robots could only mean they were on alert, looking for something.

'_Escaped prisoners, perhaps?'_

_'Or Priority One: Blue Hedgehog?'_

Feeling the seriousness of the situation come down on him like a heavy weight, Sonic replaced the manhole cover and then descended the ladder.

"Wha—" Bartleby hadn't even finished the word before Sonic was talking.

"We can't go out that way. We try and we're caught. End of story. We have to keep following the tunnel and hope it leads to an exit that's more secluded." Sonic said briskly. Oddly enough, Bartleby seemed to understand and he nodded. Surprised by this unusually mature reaction, but not willing to discuss it, Sonic just turned around and kept walking.

"Hey Sonic?" Bartleby was talking again and Sonic had to take a long deep breath.

"Yes?" The word came out strained.

"Who's Eggman?"

Sonic raised an eyebrow. He hadn't been expecting that question. '_Where did Bartleby hear—Oh…'_ Sonic remembered. '_Right. I said it.'_ "Eggman is Robotnik." He said shortly.

"Why?" He could almost see the baffled look on the minks face.

'_Why…'_ For some reason that question sounded silly; as though everyone should know why Robotnik was called 'Eggman'. But in this world the man was not known for being an evil genius with an egg fetish. That was the old world. In this world Robotnik was… just a tyrant. An insane tyrant who wanted to rule the world and roboticize every living creature, but that was it.

The Robotnik of this world never showed any genius, any innovative schemes. He just… handed off his wishes to Sleet and Dingo who bumbled their way through, trying to catch him and his siblings in the most ridiculous ways.

Sonic was somewhat amazed: that such a stupid man had been able to bend an entire world to his will.

But then again… Sonic remembered his _own _past self from this world.

Perhaps it wasn't really all that much of a stretch of the imagination.

With that depressing thought, Sonic realized then that he hadn't answered Bartleby's question. "It… it's something that always ticks him off. It's a running joke between…" Between whom? Himself, Tails, Knuckles, Rouge… the other freedom fighters? That wasn't something he could say to the mink so he kept his mouth closed. Luckily, Bartleby seemed appeased and didn't pry any more.

As they travelled deeper into the pit the dank, oppressive atmosphere caused Bartleby to eventually lapse into a depressed, solemn silence. Sonic would have been worried over this uncharacteristic behaviour, but the utter quiet was too much of a relief on his ears.

Then the path ended.

Bartleby gasped and Sonic gazed down in a sort of resigned acknowledgment.

These sorts of things just failed to surprise him anymore.

Where the path ended, a steep slope began. Twisting and curling downward alarmingly, the slide was greased by ropes of gleaming oil that ran off from the piles of trash around them. Sonic strained to follow the path of the slide, but it disappeared invisibly into the thick darkness. There was no way to tell where it led.

Bartleby was backing away.

"Oh no! There is _no way _you're getting me to go down there! Give me back to the robots for all I care; I am _not _making another blind drop into God only knows what filth and obscenity!"

Sonic glanced sideways at the mink, who looked like he was being walked to his execution. Bartleby was honestly panicking at having to jump down the slide and, if only in respect for the honesty of that emotion, Sonic felt a little pity.

But that didn't stop him from grabbing the mink by the wrist and throwing them both downward.

"AIIIEEEEE!!!!!" Bartleby's ear-splitting shriek reverberated around them as they once again plunged into the unknown.

Sonic swept his cloak tightly around his body as he descended. The instant he hit the slide, he dropped Bartleby's hand, trusting the mink to follow on his own.

With ease born from years of experience, Sonic snapped his ankles together, and tucked his arms tightly to his sides. He had no trouble navigating the tight corners and swerves of the slide, even in the suffocating darkness. Behind him, he could hear Bartleby flailing against the metal sidings of the slide. As long as the piercing shriek continued though, Sonic assumed the mink was doing fine.

Finally, after what seemed like an endless drop filled with innumerable twisted and turns, Sonic's eyes picked out a green glow in the distance. The light was eerie: a radioactive green, and it only brightened as Sonic drew closer.

Leaning his head back, Sonic let himself speed up. The slide ended abruptly and Sonic shot out like bullet from a gun. He had less than a split second to assess the room—two robots standing guard, a glowing lake of green fluid, an iron gate, some crates—before a decision had to be made. Curling into a ball, Sonic flew toward the crates. Inches away from the boxes Sonic pulled out of the ball and threw himself unceremoniously onto the ground behind them.

He hit the dirt roughly: bouncing and rolling over himself. But the floor was soft—made of years of accumulated dirt and dust—and Sonic's fall was muffled, the robots were none the wiser to his presence.

Then Bartleby's shriek reached his ears.

Biting back a nasty comment, Sonic's eyes narrowed as he saw the two robots come to life. Whirring of inner motors picked up and sinister red lights turned on behind their sightless eyes.

Sonic unclasped his cloak.

Bartleby was expelled from the slide in an uncoordinated tangle of limbs and he fell in an ungainly heap on the ground. Groaning and griping all the way, Bartleby painfully pulled himself to his feet. He took his time trying to brush off his now completely ruined frills.

"I say, Sonic! That was utterly rude of you, forcing me to fall down that thing! I hope you know that I'll be speaking to Sonia about your uncouth behaviour." Bartleby paused, as though expecting an answer. When none was forthcoming, he frowned. "Sonic! Are you listening to me? I said—" And Bartleby's words trailed off into nothing as he caught sight of the large metal feet—feet that most certainly did not belong to Sonic—in front of him.

Gulping audibly and dragging his eyes upward, Bartleby followed the feet up to their owner.

"Er… Hello there." Bartleby squeaked feebly as he stared up at the robot looming over him. "You know, this is really all a big misunderstanding! I'm actually a good, law abiding citizen; I've never—" Batleby chocked and gave a strangled 'eep' as the robot raised the laser attached to its arm to Bartleby's eye. He yelped as the laser sparked and hummed to life and jumped away, showing his back to the robot and covering his head with his arms.

"I'm too young to die!"

And Bartleby screamed as a loud explosion nearly threw him off his feet.

One second passed, then another, and Bartleby looked at his hands in confusion. He was alive? But how?

Curiosity—of which Bartleby had no idea he'd possessed—drove him to sneak a glance over his shoulder to see what was going on.

What he saw stole the breath from his lungs.

Sonic was standing over a heap of charred, twisted metal that hissed violently with blue sparks. The mink caught sight of a ruined piece of metal—something that looked like it had once been an arm—and with a jolt, he realized he was looking at all that was left of the robot that had been standing over him.

Sonic had his teeth bared in a feral smirk and the radioactive green from the lake reflected off his eyes turning them an unearthly shade of fluorescent lime. Bartleby was frightened by the fearsome look in those eyes. Now, more than ever, he was certain Sonic had never had green eyes before that day. Certainly not eyes like _that_.

Just then, the glint of metal drew Bartleby's attention away from Sonic and, with shock, he saw a second robot raise its arm, readying a laser that was aimed right at Sonic's back.

Bartleby's mouth opened and he was about to shout a warning cry but Sonic was moving before the breath had even passed his teeth.

Every laser shot from the robot's arm had Bartleby cringing backward. He watched with one eye closed—trapped by morbid fascination—as Sonic missed each shot by hairs. Bartleby knew Sonic was fast, but this was unreal. The blue hedgehog passed between the deadly lasers as though they weren't even there. Bartleby blinked; and when he looked again, Sonic had crossed half the room and was closing in on the robot.

With a short yell, Sonic leapt into the air, curled himself into a ball, and threw himself at the robot.

There were sparks, the painful sound of metal being sheared, a loud explosion and then the robot joined its dead partner on the ground.

Bartleby's mouth was still hanging open.

"Sonic… You…" He was beyond words.

"No time!" Sonic had already crossed the room, and was clasping his long cloak back around his neck. "They set off an alarm or something, the gate is closing. We have to hurry!"

Bartleby finally took the time to look around himself properly. He saw that the body of glowing water was actually more of a reservoir than a lake. There was a gate that, when closed, acted as a dam. It was this very gate that was currently grinding closed... incidentally, it was also the only visible exit from the room.

For once, Bartleby didn't argue as he was once again grabbed by Sonic.

The duo plunged into the glowing water and sunk down to the bottom. Using his speed, Sonic just barely carried them past the gate before it slammed shut behind them. Passing the gate, was an underwater tunnel which they followed, becoming more and more desperate for air with every second that passed.

When the tunnel finally opened up into bright sunlight and welcome air, they wasted no time in thrashing their way to the surface, which they broke with thankful gasps and collapsed on the banks of the polluted river.

"We're… outside." Bartleby panted, looking around with mingled surprise and disbelief. He could barely gather the energy to move. "How on earth…?"

"All that waste and sewage had to get drained from the city somehow." Sonic's voice was calm as he pulled himself out of the river and wrung out his cloak. He didn't even look fazed.

Bartleby, realizing then what he'd just travelled through, was hit with a burst of adrenaline and pulled himself out of the river in record time. "Ew! Disgusting! I'm never going to be able to rinse this smell from my hair! Robotnik should be ashamed of himself; it's his fault my clothes are completely ruined!"

Sonic blinked, then shook his head and chuckled.

* * *

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

**End Chapter**

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

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Okies! That's all for now! Hm… I really did want to have Shadow in this chapter… ah well, he'll be in the next one for sure ^.^

**Sunny Lighter: **Hiya! Thanks for reviewin'! I hope you liked the chapter!

**VampireCabbit: **Hehe, yeaaah, I'm TRYING to update more often but…(sheepish grin), eh well, I hope you enjoyed anyways XD Oh yeah! And you made a good point about Robotnik's relative 'evilness' (is that a word?... oh wow, it actually IS! o_O'). Basically, yeah, you're right that he was usually more evil in the comics and TV shows… but I always considered him to be a wimp in Sonic Underground… that and it is just SO much more fun making him eviler (where's the fun in making him nicer, right? XDD). And good luck with your new Fanfic! Have you posted it yet? I never watched Sonic X so I don't know who Chris is (… and I think I'm glad I don't, is he like a human sidekick who's always boosting Sonic up and being really helpful even in physically impossible situations??...Gurgh, hate those T_T)

**Claamchowder:** Yay! Glad you liked! I hope ya enjoyed this update too!

**Pokelad: ** Haha! Aww, Bartleby's not THAT bad… after all, he was quiet for, what, a full five minutes in this chapter? XD

**GHOST PHANTOM: **Yeah… I know… it took me a while to update (rubs back of neck). But I have an excuse! I had exams in December and then… and then… Ok fine, so I got three new video games and was completely out of commission during the hols—but it's not my fault!! Video games EAT YOU ALIVE I TELL YOU!!... Ok… SO gonna stop talking now XDD

**Leader S: **Heya! Yay! I'm glad you like this story and thanks so much for your nice comments ^.^ I really hope I finish this story too. The funny thing is… I actually KNOW where I want it to go… transferring the ideas from my head to my computer is the problem XD

**Frieghtrain: **Hey! What did you think about the Rouge part? Didn't see THAT coming didja? ;p Now the question is: will Knuckles and Tails meet up with Sonia, Manic and Rogue? THAT would definitely be an interesting reunion XD And I'm glad you liked the Sleet and Dingo part… they won't be major characters, but I don't want anyone to think I've forgotten about them, hehe.

**XxSpiritWolfxX: **Awesome! So, Rouge, Manic and Sonia got to meet up, whatja think? :3

**little ghostie:** Hi! Thankies for reviewing! I'm really glad you like the story; I know the update took awhile (sorries! :3). But I was distracted by… uh… video games (shifty eyes)… yeahhhh (ducks potential flying objects). I hope you enjoyed the update though!

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**AND! **For everyone who missed the **NOTICE **at the top of the chapter: **I will be gone to France from Jan 11 to April 11**. This means that updates will probably slow down AND **I will not be answering reviews during this time. **I'm sorry, but there's no other alternative; I just won't have the time or internet access to answer reviews... I can tell you all though that even if I don't respond, I'll still be reading and enjoying all your comments!

**I¤I**

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**Adio!**


	14. Falling on the Buttered Side

**Lost Memories, Reborn Evil**

_Sholay_

Yo, I'm back and armed with a new chapter! ^.^ Hope you have fun!

**Summary of story thus far:**Sonic is traveling with his brother and sister—Manic and Sonia—when, one day, he has a dream about an alternate past. This past includes all his adventures with the freedom fighters narrating their history until the event on the ARK when they were swept into a black hole… only to end up rewinding time to back before Sonic was born. Now, living in a universe where everything, every_one_, is different, Sonic must battle demons from his past and present in a mad race for the chaos emeralds. To this chapter: Sonic and Bartleby escaped Robotropolis with their skins barely intact… almost at the same moment that Knuckles and Tails broke _into _the city. Manic and Sonia meanwhile, have met Rouge the bat and are now trying to escape the prisons in the heart of Robotropolis. Finally, miles away, Shadow, hurt and exhausted, limps towards the city of _Kelas_—The City of the Setting Sun…

Enjoy!

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

**Chapter 13: **"Falling on the Buttered Side"

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

Breathing just a little more heavily that he was comfortable with, Shadow bared his teeth in a tight grimace as he looked upward, tracing the tall gates with eyes that squinted in exhaustion. Dark walls of interlocked stones reached high into the sky and stretched out in opposite directions, gradually melting into the inky night.

The entire city of Kelas was surrounded by an impassable wall…

The only other city Shadow knew of like that was Robotropolis.

But the walls broke at this single point before him, split by a wooden gate enforced with lines of wrought iron that twisted into an intricate mesh lined with spikes. The gate was open; but to Shadow, it didn't look so much like a welcoming gesture as an invitation to enter the beast's maw.

The black hedgehog shifted irritably on the balls of his feet; already, he was getting a bad feeling about this.

'_Metal Sonic gets closer and closer to the chaos emeralds with every second that passes. With Sonic captured in Robotropolis and Knuckles and Tails off conducting their vigilante rescue mission, there's no one to challenge Metal Sonic except me.'_ Shadow scowled up at gate, giving the torches that flickered merrily on the threshold a smoldering glare. _'And here I am, wasting precious time looking for a medic to treat a flesh wound.'_

Only Shadow knew it wasn't just a flesh wound. He'd gone from being able to limp slowly on his foot to not being able to walk on it at all. The ankle wasn't broken—he was knowledgeable enough in the field to know that—but it certainly was no light sprain either.

Then, of course, there was the slight problem of having a gaping hole in his arm.

He'd wrapped something around it. Naturally. But traveling through brush was anything but gentle and he'd accidentally jarred the wound no few times, continuously tearing it open. The cloth—dirty and mud streaked even before he'd used it as a makeshift bandage—was soaked through: blood oozed slowly down his arm in viscous dribbles.

Puffing air between his teeth—and swiftly cutting off the sound before it became a sigh—Shadow skated toward the city in long, looping strides. His shoes were specifically designed to channel chaos energy—had cost an arm and a leg to manufacture; not to mention he'd had to design most of the components _himself _since they were no where _near _that kind of technology in this backward world—and they were serving him well: letting him hover slightly above the ground, putting no weight on his ankle.

One of the idiosyncrasies of this new world was its inexplicable lack of ambient chaos energy. In the old world, chaos energy had lived and breathed in every particle of matter. It made the Earth turn, it brightened the color of the trees; it permeated the air and exhilarated those that breathed it in. It literally gave birth to some life forms. Without its presence the world was dull, dead. Wasted.

And Shadow was, in essence, created _from _chaos energy. He absorbed ambient chaos energy and converted it within his body for other purposes. He did not need it to survive—like mobians did water—but it certainly made a few things easier.

For example, his skates were usually powered by the chaos energy harboured within himself. That supply currently lacking, Shadow was now forced to use a different source: the green Chaos Emerald in his possession.

And also… The black hedgehog had done some thinking: pondered his bizarre inability to self-heal. He was almost certain that his speed healing ability was triggered by ambient chaos energy as well.

The real question was: if the chaos energy had been so incredibly abundant in the alternate universe, why was it so completely absent now?

The world needed chaos. It was obvious just looking at the brown tinge in the foliage, or the drained emptiness in mobians' eyes. Robotnik alone could not have caused all this damage. Something was bleeding the spirit out the world.

It was a silent plague. Degenerative and unstoppable it was slowly taking the will and fight out of every living creature. Something had to be done to restore the chaos energy to the world or this plague would destroy the world more completely than Robotnik could ever hope.

It was a sobering thought; but Shadow nonetheless forced himself to put it aside.

One thing at a time.

The Chaos Emeralds came first. If Robotnik got his hands on those, the next apocalypse could be a lot sooner in coming and Shadow would look a fool for all his dreaming about the mobian spirit when all the world's inhabitants were robots.

In order to get the emeralds, Shadow had to track down Metal Sonic—_again—_but only after he got his ankle fixed.

Which brought him back the to the present.

The gates, framed by an arch of dark stone, towered over him. Torchlight jittered a macabre dance over metal rods and metal spikes.

The gates were open, and so, ignoring the alarm bells ringing in his head, Shadow skated into the city.

No one greeting him as he passed the walls. Instead, flanking him were two long, wooden poles, each holding the same, immense flag that moved with the wind in slow, rolling waves.

Even the meager light offered by the moon was enough to pick out the pure, blood red colour of the flag. More caged torches were lit at the base of the flagpole, illuminating the huge six-pointed star that was splayed across each flag's centre.

Shadow looked into the city and then he saw, down the entire main road: countless little torches flickering at the bases of countless flagpoles—all sporting the same immense, bloody red flag with a black six-pointed star—lining both sides of the street, casting wicked shadows that played across the scorched earth.

The bad feeling he was having darkened, as did his expression.

Gliding silently past the sea of never-ending flagpoles, Shadow saw, on either side, bright, furtive eyes peering out between blinds and barely opened doors. But the eyes watched him only in his peripheral vision. When he looked at them directly, they blinked back into darkness. Striding past a line of houses, Shadow saw curtains fall to cover windows and doors clicked shut.

It was empty. The whole street was empty and the mobians were hiding away in their houses like rats down a hole.

Finally, after seeing the tenth or fifteenth pair of eyes flinch and disappear under Shadow's suspicious stare, the black hedgehog had had enough.

"Hey! You there!" Shadow boldly strode up to one of the windows that had just snapped closed. He rapped on the glass panes forcefully. "Hey! Do you know where I can find a medic?" Shadow paused, and after a few seconds of cold silence, a puff of air left him in an irritated scoff. He pushed away from the window and went toward another door.

"Hey!" He repeated the same motion, knocking hard on the splintered wood with his gloved knuckles "I know there's someone in there; just tell me if there is a doctor or a medic in this town!" Hearing nothing but wind and fire crackling in the torches to answer his words, Shadow backed up with a scowl.

What was wrong with this town?

"_Sst. Sst! _Hey, you there." A quiet whisper made Shadow's head swivel around and he narrowed his eyes at the dark, dingy looking alley from which the voice had come. Sliding forward on his skates, Shadow peered into the shadows, making out a figure crouched near a couple of discarded wooden crates.

"What?" Shadow spat, not in the mood to deal with seedy traders.

"Heard you yelling out there. Figured you couldn't be a Rank, 'specially if yer _wired _enough to walk out in plain view after Blackout."

'_Rank'? 'Wired'? 'Blackout'?_ Shadow's head was whirling, trying to assimilate the new information and match it to any rebel's lingo he'd picked up over his years of travel.

'Wired', he knew, was a way of calling someone stupid. It was also a stab against the intelligence of Robotnik's robot army.

The other two words Shadow wasn't familiar with. Though he guessed the first referred to some sort of government official or Robotnik sympathizer and the last was probably what they called curfew time.

That last thought made Shadow frown. If the city had a curfew that could only mean one thing…

"How long have they been taking mobians for roboticization?" Shadow demanded. Every once in awhile, Robotnik got the urge to go on a roboticizing spree, so he would choose a town and—for the pure fun of creating panic and chaos—would begin a game of cat and mouse. He'd sent in his robots every now and again, after the sun had set, to literally steal mobians off the streets and take them away for roboticizing.

It was a foul practice that sickened Shadow. And if it was happening here…

The shady trader shifted uncomfortably and in the meager light Shadow could pick out a bright stripe of white running across the top of the stranger's head. A skunk.

"The scenario's a bit more grey then that, bub." The skunk muttered before looking up at Shadow with suspicious eyes. "But you, yer new 'round these parts. Else you wouldn't be asking such questions. Who're you?"

"And who are _you_ to ask _me _that?" Shadow countered smoothly.

"Oh, I'm just yer regular yellow duck. Nothin' special." The skunk's voice was light, but his eyes were shrewd. Shadow recognized the coded words immediately.

"Well I'm visiting from the far West. Ran out of water and needed to see if I could find some extra stock." The _far West_ referred to the old ruins of Marble Mountain. A reference that was only used by rebels, it signified loyalty to the old order. Everyone knew of the mysterious King Acorn, descendent of the old royal family who simply disappeared one day, leaving his entire kingdom to the widowed wife of his son—who, at the time, was pregnant with triplets.

'_Sonia, Manic and… Sonic'_ The words passed through Shadow's mind.

By saying he came from the West, Shadow had claimed his loyalty to the royal family. By mentioning his desire for water, Shadow had expressed his desire to meet other rebels.

The skunk's expression lit up immediately.

"Yer needing a doctor, right?" the stranger said, in reference to Shadow's earlier words. And then, quick as a flash and before Shadow could even answer, the skunk had turning away, beckoning him further down the alley "Follow me." And the skunk disappeared deep into the dark.

Once more, Shadow brushed away his misgiving and followed the skunk's scraggly, matted tail as it whisked between building, finding invisible alleys and leading the black hedgehog deep into the bowels of the city.

Gradually, the houses went from habitable to dilapidated. The alleys were filled with discarded pieces of junk and metal and the empty atmosphere took on the feeling of abandonment. Shadow sucked on his tongue distastefully as he could practically taste the desperation and suffering of mobians in the air.

The skunk skimmed down a long set of rickety wooden stairs and Shadow hesitated at the top. Making his decision quickly, the hedgehog stopped the power flow to his skates. Gravity immediately took control and Shadow let out a barely perceptible grimace as his feet hit the ground, jarring his sprained ankle painfully. Ignoring the throbbing sensation, Shadow tried taking a step forward and hissed as his foot protested vehemently, sending shocks of electricity up his shin and wobbling uncontrollably.

Finally, the black hedgehog realized that the only way he could walk was on his toes. So—with quick, efficient steps—Shadow descended the staircase stiffly and as soon as his feet hit the ground he powered up his skates, feeling his foot practically sigh in relief. At one point, Shadow felt Suzu stir within his scarf and he placed a hand over the tiny bird, quietening him instantly.

The skunk was looking at him with raised eyebrows, but a dark stare from the hedgehog had the skunk shrugging and continuing on his way.

After a few more minutes of traveling the labyrinth of alleys that made up the city's slums, the skunk finally halted before a large, rusty metal door with hefty rivets drilled around the edge.

Rapping a quick tattoo on the door, a slot slid near the top, to which the skunk hissed a brief password. A loud clanking signaled the door being unbolted and then it squeaked open just wide enough for the skunk and Shadow to slide in.

The first thing to hit Shadow's senses was the overwhelming smell of incense. Then he looked around; and through the fog of smoke and dust he gathered his bearings.

He was standing in a seedy bar. Filled with cracked, shabby splintering tables and stools, dirt and dust covered every available surface and packed hard together to make up the floor. The place was decorated with wisps of see-through scarves and sweeping curtains.

And the loud noise of gossip and chatter filled the room as countless mobians crowded around the tables, smoked, gambled and laughed over mugs dripping with alcohol. A weasel with a dulcimer plucked out an exotic melody as dancers weaved on a stage one step above the ground. The overwhelming calls, laughter and whistles of too many people packed into too small a space assaulted Shadow's ears.

"Well, bub," The skunk thumped Shadow on the back and the hedgehog jerked forward, still staring around himself with something that resembled muted shock. The skunk grinned, showing off yellowing teeth. "Welcome to the rebellion."

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

"Ok… but you're last plan just _fell _through. Literally. And Manic and I already tried blasting through the walls; so what exactly is this brilliant plan of yours?" Sonia stood in the middle of the cell, arms crossed tightly and lips drawn into a thin, displeased line.

Rogue looked at the pink hedgehog, amused. "First rule of thieving, Princess," Sonia scowled at the nickname. "Always have a back-up plan."

"And you got one?" Manic asked, looking around the cell. The walls were polished and completely smooth. Robotnik had left the lights on after his little transmission, so they could at least _see _the giant metal box they were trapped in; but to Manic it made absolutely no difference: the place was sealed down completely. It didn't even have a door!

"Of course!" Rouge smirked. Manic was amazed, his old friend actually looked like she was _enjoying _this! "Look there." And Rouge pointed.

Manic and Sonia followed the finger and frowned when they saw what it led toward.

"The vent?" Manic asked, bemused. "But it's too high up to reach, what do you—" The green hedgehog's words abruptly broke off when Rogue, calm as anything, walked up to the wall and began scaling it.

Manic felt his mouth drop open and, glancing over at his sister, he saw that Sonia was much the same.

"O-kay…" He intoned. "I guess that works too."

Rouge made quick work of the screws holding the vent in place and soon the grid had slid off and fallen to the floor with a noisy clang. Reaching down, the bat pulled first Sonia then Manic into the duct before crawling in herself.

No sooner had they crawled two feet into the ventilation shaft when the meager light around them began to blink red and a shrill wail shot through the air.

"Augh!" Sonia cried out as the undulating sound made her eardrums throb.

"The alarm!" Manic yelled out from behind her.

"Huh…" Rouge muttered. "That's new…"

"What?" Manic looked over his shoulder at the bat.

Rogue met the hedgehog's eyes with a bemused expression. "He's never had one of those before." She said, as though that explained everything. But in reality, all it did was make Manic wonder what exactly was this 'before' that Rouge was referring to.

Sonia, who had missed their brief conversation, called out once more. "But how can they already know we've escaped!"

"Heat sensors or motion sensors in the room… A hidden camera…" Manic trailed off.

Sonia suddenly stopped crawling. "I've reached the end; there's another vent here, but no screws." She paused, then threw a look over her shoulder. "Hey Manic, come over next to me; I think there's enough space. Let's try to force this thing open."

Manic nodded and sidled up next to his sister. Together, they placed their hands on the vent and prepared to push.

"Wait!"

The harsh whisper surprised the hedgehogs and they instantly stilled. Looking over at their other companion, they saw Rouge's green eyes narrow in the strips of light that filtered through the vent. The bat put a slim finger to her lips. Her ears twitched and the siblings suddenly got the message, quietening and pressing their ears to the vent.

The low murmur of hushed whispers slowly grew from the silence.

"Two males. They sound anxious. Can't hear what they're saying." Rouge informed them, looking frustrated.

"Do you recognize the voices?" Sonia asked softly. Rouge shook her head. Sonia sent a sideways glance at her brother. "Could be Sleet and Dingo."

Manic was surprised when Rouge raised her eyebrows in confusion. "Who?" She asked.

"Sleet. And. Dingo." Manic said slowly, as though to a child. "'Buttnik's two right hand henchmen…" When his words were met only by a blank stare his expression turned incredulous. "Don't tell me… you know Robotnik _personally _and have _no _idea who Sleet and Dingo are?"

"They're his main enforcers. Everyone who hasn't been living under a rock for the past twenty years know who they are." Sonia said offhandedly.

Rouge seemed to shake herself and looked away from Manic unexpectedly. "Of course," She mumbled. "I remember."

Manic looked doubtful but Sonia had already moved past the subject. "What should we do about this?" The pink hedgehog asked, gesturing toward the vent.

Rouge, having regained her composure, leaned forward and placed her hands next to Sonia's and Manic's on the vent. "I say we all give one hard shove; this thing should break and then we can jump whoever's down there."

It was unanimously agreed and with Manic counting slowly under his breath they all braced their energy.

"... THREE!"

A grating squeal: the crash of the vent flying across the room sent them all tumbling out of the vent.

"What the—?"

"Hey—!"

Two vaguely familiar voices were quickly stifled as Sonia, Manic and Rouge fell in a heap over the unknown figures.

"GET 'EM!"

The next two minutes were a blur of hair-pulling, scuffling, and wrestling as Manic tried to pin whoever he was fighting with. It wasn't until he gulped in a mouthful of air and properly blinked his eyes that he realized the long, fluffy thing he was grabbing was an orange and white tail.

'_Wait a minute.'_ Manic pulled back. _'This isn't Dingo!'_ Manic jerked his head upward, just in time to meet a pair of brilliant blue eyes.

"Whoa!" Manic fell over, letting go of the other mobian instantly. It was a fox, young, with two bushy tails. Manic didn't thing he'd ever seen him before. Seeing the fox was still struggling with his sister, Manic immediately reached over to pull Sonia back.

"Hey, lemme go, Manic!" Sonia, blinded by long, unpinned hair that fell in tangles over her face, scowled in Manic's general direction as he tugged her to his side.

"Relax, Sonia. I don't think they're enemies."

"Huh?" Sonia pulled a few purple strands out of her face, gazed in surprise at the fox grinning and waving sheepishly at them from the ground. "Oh! Oh my god!" She flicked her hair back over her shoulder. "I'm so sorry!" She reached down and helped the stranger to his feet. "We thought you were someone else!"

"No problem!" The fox gave an easy smile as he brushed himself off. "You guys just saved us a whole lot of time."

"AUGH!"

"GET. OFF. ME!"

Manic, Sonia and the still-unnamed fox's gaze swivled over to the two other mobians still fighting.

"Rouge!" Manic called eliciting a gasp from the fox. Manic snapped his head over to him, raising his eyebrows, the fox's jaw had dropped.

"Rouge!"

"You know Rouge?" Manic asked, but didn't receive a reply. His attention was then drawn back to the scuffling pair.

"Ugh, let me GO you big oaf!" Rouge gripped as she was held in a strong headlock by a crimson echidna. Manic eyed the gleaming metal claws on the echidna's hands and stepped forward to help his friend. But an arm stretched out in front of his chest, stopping him. Manic followed the arm back up to the fox's face, frowning. But the fox just shook his head.

"Knuckles?" The fox called hesitantly.

"Ha haah," The echidna—Knuckles—panted as he struggled to hold Rouge. "Not so cocky now are you? Now, I know you took it; give it _back_!"

Manic's eyebrows rose.

"I…ugh… don't know what you're talking about, you uncouth barbarian!" Rouge twisted roughly, but Knuckles' grip held.

"You know perfectly well!" Knuckles snapped. "My scope glasses! You took them!"

"That old pair of sunglasses?" Rouge scoffed. "What would I want with them?"

"Built in heat sensor, motion sensor, holographic imaging system—take your pick." Knuckles looked like he was quickly whatever patience he hand left.

"Ugh! Fine! If you want them back that bad then here." Fishing something out of her pocket, Manic glimpsed a pair of sunglasses flash in the air as the bat practically threw them at Knuckles. The echidna promptly dropped Rouge as he caught the glasses in both hands. Rouge picked herself up from the ground, shooting a dirty glare at the echidna. "They weren't all that great anyway. And you're such a whiny baby."

Knuckles paid her no heed and, huffing, she finally looked up at their audience.

"Oh!" The bat's eyes widened. "Tails!" Manic stepped back as Rouge swooped the fox up into a big hug, giving him as warm a welcome as she'd given him not too long ago. The fox—Tails, Manic reasoned—matched Rouge's beaming smile with a grin of his own.

"Hi! Long time no see!"

"Too long," Rouge sighed and turned away.

Sonia and Manic exchanged glances as the mood in the room inexplicably sobered.

"So… um… anyone care to explain what's going on?" Sonia piped up.

"Just wait a sec…" Tails interjected. He pointed to Knuckles and Rouge. "She stole your glasses? So you met up after…" The rest of Tails' sentence went unsaid but Knuckles and Rouge seemed to understand.

"Oh yeah, me and the jerk," Rouge jabbed a thumb at Knuckles who crossed his arms huffily. "Ran into each other a couple of days ago."

"Before Miss Sticky Fingers here decided to play vigilante and sneak into Robotnik's base _alone _to find the white chaos emerald." Knuckles glared at Rouge. "Crept off in the middle of the night… Thought I would be a burden, did you? 'Course that didn't stop you from _stealing my glasses!_"

Rouge dismissed him with a wave of her hand. "Pfft, you should learn to let things go. My scope was broken and I needed another pair. Besides, _you _weren't using them."

"I was _asleep!_"

"Hey! HEY!" Sonia shouted and all eyes swivled to her. Instead of blushing, she drew herself up imperiously. "We're in the middle of Robotnik's base for godsake! Now is NOT the time for bickering!" When no one spoke up to contradict her, she continued. "Now, not to be rude or anything, but who _are _you guys?" She looked at Tails and Knuckles.

"Ah!" Tails smiled. "I'm Miles, but everyone calls me Tails. I'm a Kitsune." Sonia and Manic looked surprised.

"I thought they were extinct." Manic said tactlessly and received an elbow in the side from Sonia. Tails just shrugged and looked away.

"How did you get in here?" Rouge asked, quickly changing the topic.

"Climbed over the city wall," Knuckles said absently. "Robotropolis is teaming with robots but he hitched a ride in one of the delivery trucks." Here, Knuckles' eyes glimmered in amusement. "Slipped right in the front door. When the alarm went off, we ducked in here to avoid the 'bots."

Looking over, the echidna noticed the twin hedgehogs staring at him.

"Princess Sonia and Prince Manic," Knuckles began formally, a smirk curling the edges of his mouth. "We've met before. You don't remember?"

Manic was confused. Sure the guy's name was a little familiar, but he couldn't recall the face. Usually he was pretty good with faces; Manic looked to Sonia and saw the dawning realization on her face.

"Knuckles? As in the guardian of the Chaos Emerald?" She asked. Suddenly something clicked in Manic's memory and his eyes widened.

"Master Emerald, actually," Knuckles corrected gently.

"But you… you look so different!" Manic could not rationalize this strong, imperious echidna before him with the scrawny, crafty echidna they'd met nearly a year ago. Knuckles' eyes darkened and he shared a look with Rouge and Tails. Again, Manic wondered at the connection between them. How did they know each other?

There was something going on here. Manic's eyebrows furrowed. This bizarre, secretive behaviour, it reminded him of…

"Sonic…" Just saying his brother's name had Rouge, Tails and Knuckles' eyes snapping up to focus on him with rapt attention. Manic looked to Sonia, saw in her expression that she'd noticed the strange behaviour too. "You've changed… just like Sonic."

Again that long silence, punctuated by significant stares being thrown around in front of him. Manic was already getting sick of it.

"Sonic…" Tails cast a look up at the white tiled walls of the washroom until his eyes hit the vent through which the twins and Rouge had just fallen. "We thought he'd be with you…"

Sonia and Manic looked down, missing the way Knuckles' expression turned to stone.

"Where is he?"

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

"Sonic, Sonic! Stop it, you'll kill yourself!"

Sonic huffed in exhaustion, but threw it aside like the sweat he flicked off his forehead.

One more time, one more time, he told himself. He curled himself into a ball, threw himself at the tall walls of Robotropolis. But the metal was too slippery, the angle too steep. His spikes screamed and drew sparks as they collided with sheets of titanium. He couldn't scale the wall. But if he couldn't scale the wall he'd break it down. He had to get in.

He lost traction against the wall and fell. Tucking his head down, he hit the ground shoulder first and rolled. It was a hard fall, and it made his already bruised shoulder throb but nonetheless he shoved himself to his feet, slapped away the dirt and prepared himself to try again.

A hand clamped down on his arm, spinning him around with surprising strength.

"Enough! Enough of this madness, Sonic!" Bartleby was almost shouting in his face. "You've tried scaling the wall, you've tried the underwater gate; by god, you've even torn apart a robot and fired a laser at the door!" The mink sounded a little shocked even as he said the last part. "There's no way in. The ID codes on the robots are not working—listen to me!" Bartleby pulled Sonic back around as the hedgehog tried to turn away. As Sonic's head turn back his eyes fell slightingly on the mink. Reflected in those eyes was the single-minded determination Bartleby had always admired and envied, but backing it was a fierceness that shone unnaturally bright. Bartleby wilted a little under those eyes.

"They're in there," Sonic looked at the walls of Robotropolis. "Sonia and Manic. They're in there and I have to get them out." He stated it like it was a simple fact. His siblings were trapped in a potential deathtrap and Sonic was going to jump in and haul them out. No matter what it took. Just like that.

Sonic was brash and foolish and that combination was going to get him killed someday.

"Look, Sonia's in there." Bartleby swallowed at that thought. "I want her out as much as you. And Manic's… a stand up guy." Sonic shot Bartleby a look which the mink interpreted as somewhere between amused and sardonic. He'd no idea Sonic was capable of such an expression. "The point is…" Bartleby continued. "There's no way in. We set off the alarm and they locked up the place tighter than a drum. Unless you can fly over the wall, you're not getting into the city."

And then Sonic's entire countenance changed. His silence went from testy to thoughtful.

Bartleby wondered what he'd said.

A sudden crash in the foliage at their left had them swinging around to face the possible threat. Bartleby, without even realizing it, cowered behind Sonic's confident stance.

"Who goes there?" Sonic called out.

"Mobian! Friend! Please… please don't shoot!" A whimper, hoarse and pitiful called to them from the undergrowth.

Bartleby saw Sonic's guard lower and silently cursed the hedgehog's hero complex. "Don't let that fool you!" He hissed. "It could be a robot using a recorded voice… Hey!" But Sonic was already walking toward the forest edge. Glancing around himself nervously, Bartleby jumped, swearing he just heard a beeping noise. Not thinking twice, he scrambled after Sonic.

The blue hedgehog was kneeling down next to something that trembled and shook the ferns. Standing back a ways, Bartleby cringed when Sonic beckoned him closer. He stepped gingerly, wary of traps, until he was close enough to see exactly what Sonic was fawning over.

A young mole, practically a baby, was sniffling and shaking under Sonic's comforting hand.

"My home… Monster came… Lots of fire. Please, my mommy told me to run away… Mommy said Daddy would come back…" And the kid dissolved into tears.

"Bartleby," The mink's head shot up as Sonic addressed him. "Get my cloak." Sonic nodded back in the direction they'd come.

Bartleby didn't know why he listened without question. Maybe it had something to do with that freaky, intense look Sonic seemed to always be wearing now; but Bartleby went back to the polluted, glowing river, swept the clock up off the ground and hurried back, handing it to Sonic without a word.

With a swift swirl of fabric, Sonic had wrapped the mole up neatly within the cloak and Bartleby watched in fascination as Sonic made a sling out of the material, tying it securely over one shoulder so that the mole lay cradled against the hedgehog's chest.

"Where did you learn how to do that?" Bartleby asked without thinking.

Sonic didn't raise his eyes as he checked to make sure the mole was safe. "There are always casualties in war: some aren't big enough to sling over your shoulder so you find other ways to take them where they have to go."

It wasn't the words so much as the tone, dead serious, that had chills running down Bartleby's spine.

"Come on, he told me he lives a little up North."

"So we're going?" Bartleby asked, needlessly, since he already knew the answer.

"I am. You're free to walk home, if you want." Sonic's words were curt. He was in no mood for conversation.

Bartleby thought of his home: the upper-class society to which he belonged… and then he looked at the tiny face of the mole that slept fitfully with it's fists curled into Sonic's fur. The mink spat out a curse. "Damn it Sonic, I think you're rubbing off on me."

There it was, that amused flicker in the hedgehog's green eyes returned with a vengeance. "You realise that one you make this choice you can't go back." Contrary to his eyes, Sonic's tone was completely serious.

"I know." The words clogging in Bartleby's throat but he said them confidently, with a defiant raising of his chin. Quietly, Bartelby wondered when he'd began to feel the need to prove himself to Sonic.

"Good." Was that satisfaction in Sonic's voice? Bartleby couldn't tell. "Then let's go." The blue hedgehog held out a gloved hand.

Bartleby hesitated. "Sonia and Manic?" He asked.

Sonic's eyes blazed. "We'll come back for them. We'll come back with help." And it was said with such utter conviction that Bartleby couldn't do anything but believe in those words.

Wondering if the giddiness he felt was because he was making an incredibly stupid decision, Bartleby reached out and grasped Sonic's hand.

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

**End Chapter**

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

YAYYY! So! Long chapter, a little bit of everything for everyone. What did you think?

**Claamchowder:** Heya! Thanks, I'm glad you like the details in this fic =P Hope you liked the chappie!

**VampireCabbit:** Haha, yeah, I know, my updating scheme isn't the most reliable thing ever ;p It's funny 'cause I know what I wanna write, it just all gets stuck somewhere in between my head and the page XD I have to say though, I've never seen Sonic X… but seeing Shadow in animation sounds tempting ;d I might have to check that out sometime :D

**XxSpiritWolfxX:** No prob :D I like responding to reviews. And as for Amy… ooh I've got plans for her (evil grin)! It might take a few chapters but she's _definitely _gonna make an appearance!

**Airiko-the-Angel13:** Oh wow, thank you! And there are some pretty good Sonic Fanfics out there, so it's really amazing to hear that you're impressed by mine! :3

**Molto Alesato:** Hehe (sheepish grin) I know, it took me a long time to update again… sowwies! XD But hey! It's good for creating suspense right? … Right? (long pause)… Ok maybe not so much XDD At any rat, I do hope you enjoyed the update! :P

**Sunny Lighter: **Heya! Yup, Sonia and Manic have been let out of the dark! And… have stumbled onto Tails and Knuckles… literally! XDD

**Pokelad:** Hahaa, it IS true isn't it? Rouge would be VERY good at distractions! XD I personally love the Knuckles and Rouge interactions, they're so funny together XP As for Bartleby… well, it's interesting how Sonic is influencing him huh? ^.^

**Sonic on the run:** Yay! Glad you like the story! France was awesome… it was a bit insane 'cause everything was in French (yeah, yeah, I know, I WENT there to learn French… but still! I think it gave me some brain damage _...XD) but I hope ya liked the chapter!

**FantomoDrako: **Yeah… I know, the updates take a little long to get out ;p I hope they're worth it though :3 Oh and thanks for offering to help with the Sonic Underground info! It's actually the only animated Sonic series I've ever seen but it's been so long that I've forgotten a lot of the details. I'll definitely keep your offer in mind!

**Unknownlight:** :D Thanks for reviewing! So yeah, I updated! Not too long of a wait, I hope (ducks potential lethal object thrown at head) XD

**PubliclyAnonymous:** Yes, I agree, text speak melts my brain too O_O Usually, if I find a fanfic that is written like that, it will literally turn me off the fic. Anyways, I'm glad you like the fic so far and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

**Sakura Droplet:** Wow. Thanks! So this was the next chappie, I hope you enjoyed!

**Adio!**


	15. Prison Break

**Lost Memories, Reborn Evil**

_Sholay_

(Peers around the edge of the screen) Uh… Is anyone still there?

So! Told you guys I wasn't going to abandon this story! And you guys didn't believe me… just 'cause it took me years to update…

In all seriousness, I realize it's been taking me a long time to post chapters for this fic. The reasons can all be catalogued under that giant, overbearing umbrella called 'Real Life'. I was studying overseas for some time, graduated with my degree, got accepted into Law School and, most recently, have been slaving away at my job… Basically, my job and school both involve excessive amounts of writing and reading and by the time I get done with that I'm totally wrung dry… Dry of inspiration and of the incentive to write.

But, like I've said before: I intend to keep working at this story. Writing Fanfiction is a hobby for me: which means I enjoy it, but I will not be able to give it the same attention and commitment as I would my job or schoolwork… That will, unfortunately, mean infrequent updates. I know you would all prefer consistent updates (believe me, I would too) but I simply can't promise that. I will keep writing, though, and I will do my best to finish this fic.

TO EVERYONE WHO HAS REVIEWED AND/OR FAVOURITED THIS FIC: **Thank you**. I can't say that enough. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Really. Sincerely. I can't say how awesome it is to know people are still reading this story :D

This Chapter is dedicated to **Riptide Writer**. I told you I'd update months ago… sorry I didn't quite make that deadline (sheepish grin). But I hope you enjoy the chapter! And thank you for all your not-so-gentle prodding ;P

**Summary of story thus far****:** It's a race to the chaos emeralds! Metal Sonic is in the lead, using the white chaos emerald and Robotnik's instructions to get to the hidden location. Knuckles and Tails were diverted when they snuck into Robotropolis to rescue Sonic—only to find Sonia, Manic and Rouge. Meanwhile, Sonic and Bartleby are on a quest to save the village of a baby mole and Shadow has found himself unwittingly press ganged into an underground rebellion…

Enjoy!

* * *

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

**Chapter 14: **"Prison Break"

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

* * *

Deep within what had once been the Grand Palace of Mobotropolis—now the monstrous fortress of Robotropolis—two hedgehogs, a bat, a kitsune and an echidna stood silently staring each other down. They made a very strange group: two were exiled royalty, two were living representatives from supposedly extinct species and one was a professional jewel snatcher, all standing in a pristine white bathroom. Nonetheless, the oddity of their situation was lost as a more pressing question was addressed.

"Where is Sonic?" Knuckles repeated himself. His voice was low and steady but nonetheless held a vaguely threatening tone. Sonia, who prided herself on her unflappability, met the red echinda's gaze evenly. But though her gaze was steady, her heart beat loudly in her ears as old emotions were stirred up. She forced herself to keep focus.

"What's with the look?" She demanded, putting her hands on her hips. "It's like you're accusing us of something." Knuckles' expression, if anything, darkened and Sonia could feel Manic's hackles begin to rise at her side.

"Knuckles…" Tails, sidling over to stand at Knuckles' left, put a restraining hand on the echidna's shoulder. "She's right. Calm down." In response to these words Knuckles huffed and shrugged off Tails' hand. He did take a deep breath however, and wiped the scowl from his face with the back of his wrist—metal gauntlets flashing wickedly under the fluorescent lighting—and broke eye contact with Sonia. The pink hedgehog continued watching him though, even as Tails continued speaking.

"We're all just worried about So—the _Prince_. Please, tell us if you know anything about him." The sincerity in the young kitsune's concern defeated Sonia's stubbornness and her eyes switched from Knuckles to Tails.

"We… We all entered Robotropolis together but we got separated when Manic and I got captured. I don't know where Sonic is." Sonia sighed.

"I don't think he's here," was Rouge's input. "Eggman told us he was keeping those two," here she wiggled a finger between Manic and Sonia. "Alive as bait for Sonic."

"I can search the mainframe, just to make sure." Tails piped up. "I just need to hook up to a computer."

Rouge nodded in approval. "Good idea. And while you're at it, see if you can locate the white chaos emerald."

Knuckles sent her a sharp look, "So he really does have it, after all."

She nodded in affirmation and Tails looked upset.

"The sneak! He stole it and replaced it with the fake!" The small kitsune shook his head roughly. "I can't believe I didn't spot it. I should have noticed—it was my creation!"

"Nevermind that now," Rouge cut in, stopping Tails' self-berating. "I remember seeing a couple of security terminals in the hall. Can you use those to get into the system?"

Much to Sonia's chagrin, as Knuckles, Rouge and Tails spoke, they seemed to drift toward each other, forming a little circle that clearly excluded the two hedgehogs.

"They're completely ignoring us," Manic said in an undertone as he leaned toward his sister. "Should we—?"

"No," Sonia answered her brother's unasked question. "I don't like it, but—"

Manic gave a curt nod, understanding without even needing to be told. "Sonic first, arguments and suspicion later."

"The cameras will be a problem." Knuckles pointed out, oblivious to the murmured conversation between the two hedgehogs.

"Leave that to me." Rouge's fangs glistened mischievously as she strode past the sinks and crossed the washroom. Resting a gloved hand on the door, she paused. "I just have one question though, dear." Her heavily painted eyes flicked toward Knuckles.

"What?" He asked gruffly, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Of all the places to hide out and have your private little discussion, why did you choose a _girls'_ washroom?" She drawled. Then, before Knuckles could so much as splutter in indignation, she had slipped out the door with a light tittering.

Knuckles snarled, bringing up a fist. "Why that no-good, emerald-stealing, fox-tongued—!"

"Easy, Knuckles." Tails said, grabbing his friend's arm and pulling it down. The kitsune jerked his head in the direction of the twin hedgehogs. "We're in the presence of royalty, remember?" He grinned at Manic and Sonia, who could only stare at the duo in bafflement and trepidation.

"Hmph." Knuckles scoffed, but lowered his hand. He turned back to the two hedgehogs and then a long silence fell over the group. Perhaps noticing the way Sonia and Manic held themselves with stiff apprehension, Knuckles coughed and made a halting attempt at small talk. "Well…you two haven't changed much since we last met." He ventured as he leaned up against a tiled wall.

Sonia sized the echidna up, from his lean build to the swagger in his stance—his arms crossed as he cocked an eyebrow at her and her brother—to the fearsome metal claws attached to his fists, he looked nothing like the pudgy, suspicious but kind mobian they'd met on Angel Island all those months ago.

"Compared to you?!" Manic hooted, "Man, I haven't changed that much in as little time since I stopped trying to put shiny things in my mouth."

"Manic, you still do that." Sonia smirked as Manic's squawked indignantly.

All four mobians shared a quiet laugh. Sonia was the first to quieten as he eyes snagged once more on Knuckles' form.

"You've changed." Her words was a mere mumble, but Knuckles still caught them. His gaze came up and met hers.

Staring into his eyes—a shocking violet that she didn't remember him having—Sonia couldn't help the rising heat in her cheeks. Knuckles' eyes narrowed, and he abruptly looked away. Sonia sucked on her tongue, feeling a little hurt. The last time they'd parted she'd kissed him on the cheek. He'd smiled. Hadn't that meant something?

Tails watched the exchange but didn't really understand its significance. Eventually deciding that it didn't really concern him, the kitsune switched his attention to the other mobian in the room. "Hey, so… Prince Manic, right?" He began somewhat lamely.

The green hedgehog had been fiddling with something in the pouch strapped to his waist, but glanced up at the mention of his name—giving Tails his first good look at the gravity-defying spikes atop his head. Manic grinned toothily, and it was so strikingly reminiscent of Sonic that Tails nearly goggled.

"Yep." Manic shrugged. "Though don't bother with the titles. Me and my sibs like to stay real, y'know?" He twirled a drumstick skilfully between his fingers as he spoke and Tails blinked, having missed when and from where Manic had pulled it out.

"I see… so Sonia is older than you… and… Sonic is the oldest? Your mother is Queen Aleena… and she was married to King Acorn, who went missing?" These were all facts that every mobian knew, passed down through word of mouth because teaching such things in school was against Robotnik's law. But though Tails had known these things since he could walk, they never held the significance that they did now. Now, Tails could barely believe the words as he said them, but Manic was nodded assuredly, confirming each point.

At the mention of King Acorn, Knuckles' eyes had widened. Catching Tails' eye he mouthed the single word:

'_Sally?'_

Tails' only answer was a helpless shrug.

"King Acorn is our step-father, though. We were babies when Mom married him and became Queen. When he disappeared there was no other immediate family to supersede him so Mom became Queen." Sonia stated. And there was a fierce, defensive gleam in her eye. What was left unsaid was the rumour of Queen Aleena's possible hand in her husband's disappearance. Of course, after Robotnik usurped the throne rumours had become meaningless gossip. Hurtful, yes, but meaningless nonetheless.

"Oh…" Tails blinked. He hadn't known about that. Maybe Sally still existed then. Possibly through a previous marriage of King Acorn…?

Still… If she did exist, that would make her and Sonic step-siblings…

Stifling a grimace, Tails shied away from that topic and hazarded another. "So… What's Sonic like? Does he act very Princely?"

Knuckles snorted loudly, Sonia hid a smile and Manic outright guffawed.

"Princely! Prince of Fools, maybe." Sonia quipped.

"Well," Manic grinned mischievously. "He's definitely got the ordering people around part down. But unless Princes are supposed to be reckless—"

"—and lazy," Sonia inserted.

"—Bottomless pits..." Manic finished, trailing off thoughtfully. "But, maybe we're being a bit hard on him," he continued, ignoring Sonia's 'Not!' "But half the time we're trying to stop Sonic from charging in without thinking, and the other half we're trying to clean up his messes. It's true that he does sometimes get something right, but usually it's not at all on purpose—"

"Picture a very complicated rope knot and you were told to undo that knot. Sonic's the guy who would rush in and slice the rope to shreds. Then he'd grin, run off and leave you to deal with the consequences." Sonia said with a roll of her eyes.

Manic agreed. "Yeah, he likes to charge in without thinking. Just getting him to stand still for a few minutes strung together is a chore."

"We tried that once, remember?" Sonia put a finger to her lips in reflection. "Tied him to a tree and wouldn't feed him his chilidogs unless he could recite our infiltration plan back to us."

"Oh yeah… good times." Manic's lips curled in a lop-sided grin. "Until he sawed through the ropes and ate all the food we had stored for the next week."

Tails looked between the two siblings, not knowing whether to be amused or dismayed. "You're _kidding_." Then he looked at Knuckles. "They're kidding."

" 'Fraid not, kiddo." Knuckles smirked. "Watching him eat was like watching feeding time at a chopper-infested pool."

Tails cringed at that memory of Robotnik's infamous piranha-like badniks.

"A what-infested pool?" Manic cocked his head in confusion.

Tails shook his head and was about to reply when the door to the bathroom squeaked open.

Everyone tensed. Manic and Sonia each raised a hand to the crystal medallions around their necks while Knuckles and Tails fell into fighting stances. But everyone relaxed when Rouge's large ears peaked around the door.

"Sst! The coast is clear. I shut off the cameras so we got about five minutes before Eggman's 'bots come snooping around—less, if they've already tracked the origin of the alarm we set off." She whispered, gesturing urgently for the group to follow her. Knuckles and Tails exchanged an odd glance at Rouge's words, but followed after Manic and Sonia who were already leaving.

They filed out of the room, but as they jogged quickly down the corridor, Tails kept looking around warily.

"How is this possible?" He muttered. "There are no guards, no robots, nothing. I thought we set off the alarm?" The hall was spacious and long, with both walls and ceiling plated in reflective metal. But though the corridor extended a long way into the distance there was no sign of life: robotic or otherwise.

"_You_ set off the alarm?" Rouge asked as they skidded to a stop before a large monitor set into the wall. "I thought _we_ set off the alarm." Knuckles frowned at the bat.

"And we thought _we'd_ set it off."

Tails had stopped listening to the conversation the moment he'd seen the monitor. Pushing to the front of the group, he barely even hesitated before pulling his handheld computer, the iCAN, from the pocket of his red bomber jacket. He placed his fingertips against the wall, siding them across the smooth surface until he found what he was looking for. A quick jerk produced a keyboard which folded out of the wall.

"Cool!" Manic effused as he peered over Tail's shoulder, staring at the iCAN. "That tech is jammin'! Specs that high haven't even hit the black market yet; and I should know! How'd you get your hands on a piece of hardware like that? You steal it from a Rank or something?" In his excitement, Manic's language had slipped back into the old accent that he'd gained from the streets—earning him a nostalgic look from Rouge, which Knuckles noticed with a raised eyebrow.

Tails' eyes were focused on the screen in front of him as his lips curled into a humourless smile, nose and whiskers trembling. "I didn't steal it. It was given to me. Before all this, I lived in the city of Acantha."

"Acantha?" Sonia's ears perked up at that. "The City of Aristocrats? One of the only free cities still holding a treaty with Robotnik?"

"The same." Tails said distractedly. "Although, that's probably not going to last long. Not after the discovery that the most prominent doctor in the region was harbouring a dangerous and savage _kitsune_." He spat bitterly, earning a rueful look from Knuckles.

"I'm sorry," the echidna intoned regretfully. "If I had been more careful—"

"It's not your fault." Tails dismissed. "It would've happened eventually. All Eggman would've needed is to have heard that an orange 'fox' named Miles was living with the Sapienti family and it would have all gone pear-shaped from there. I don't blame you, Knuckles."

Sonia and Manic were largely confused by this conversation, but noticed that Knuckles and Rouge were both shaking their heads sympathetically. Before the two hedgehogs could voice any questions though, Tails gave a gasp of discovery.

"Of course! _This _is why the alarms turned off AND why there aren't any robots around here! We didn't set of the alarm. Not us," the kitsune glanced at Knuckles, "and not you." He flicked his eyes at Rouge. "Someone escaped from the lower levels of the prison: burned through several doors and broke out another prisoner, tore up a bunch of robots and fled through the sewer system, all before Eggman could mobilize a force to stop him. Says here the prisoner was an unidentified species of mobian named 'Rex'. The destroyed robots were sheared straight through, like with a diamond saw."

"_Burned_, you said?" Knuckles asked pointedly.

"_Sheared_?" Manic and Sonia exchanged knowing expressions.

"Yep. S'gotta be Sonic. He probably used his fire ring." Tails mused.

"His what?" Sonia asked sharply. Tails acted like he'd never met Sonic; how would he know what Sonic did and didn't have in his possession? And why was he so quick to address Sonic in such an informal way—when just two minutes ago he'd been calling them 'Prince' and 'Princess'?

Tails jerked, eyes widening as he stared blankly at the siblings. "Uhh…" Sonia figured that the younger mobian had either forgotten they were there or hadn't intended for his comment to be heard. "I was talking about… his… speed?"

Sonia crossed her arms and stared down at the young kitsune dubiously. She opened her mouth, about to contest what was so obviously a lie when Knuckles abruptly stepped in front of her, blocking Tails from her view.

"Stop. Now. We don't have time for this. Tails, Sonic is safe. That's obvious. Find us a way outta here." He shot back over his shoulder.

"And don't forget about the emerald!" Rouge, hopping on her toes, piped up from the back of the group.

Knuckles then turned his simmering purple eyes on Sonia. "Listen. You have to trust us. We know what we're doing."

Surprisingly, it wasn't Sonia, but Manic whose temper broke first. "Hey, just wait a minute!" Stepping forward, Manic braved Knuckles' disapproving stare and brazenly stabbed a finger into the echidna's chest. "Now you listen here! We've done this before too! Buttnik's been chasing us practically since we were born. We've broken into his factories, defeated his thugs and survived pretty well intact, I think! If you think you've got one up over us here then—" Manic's triad was abruptly cut off when Rouge clapped a hand over his mouth.

"Sonic's brother through and through." Knuckles murmured, turning away.

"Manic, you're a dear but that mouth of yours is going to get us all killed." Her soothing voice was almost a hum. "Now hush, I think I hear something."

Everyone stiffened at that. Tails' ears twitched.

Sure enough, there came the low sound of murmuring voices echoing around the corner of the corridor.

"Tails…" Knuckles hissed warningly.

"I'm trying! This place is like a fort. The only weakness I can see is the west wall. If we break through that we'll be outside the city."

"Break?! The walls must be three feet thick!" Knuckles only barely controlled his voice.

But Manic looked thoughtful. "Tails, get us to the wall, I'll do the rest." He said confidently. At his side, Sonia nodded.

Tails eyed the hedgehog sceptically. "Well…"

"Hurry!" Rouge cried.

But they were too late. Rounding the corner on the opposite side of the hallway came a large wolf and an orange dog.

"Mobians!" Tails said, starting to relax, as did Rouge and Knuckles.

"_No_, Sleet and Dingo!" The panic in the twins' eyes was enough to make the three tense up again.

Then, the wolf looked up. His face registered acute shock for a moment before melting into a sinister grin. "Well, well, what do we have here?" He drawled, his accent making all his 'w's come out as 'v's. "Some escaped prisoners, perhaps?"

"Sonia!" Dingo cried, catching sight of the pink hedgehog, who cringed away from his adoring gaze.

Sleet thoroughly ignored his comrade, who was nearly drooling onto the floor. With an elaborate swishing of his cape, Sleet pulled out a hefty remote from behind his back. "Maybe you're looking for the roboticization room? I can help you there!"

"RUN!" Sonia and Manic shouted. The group needed no further encouragement, bolting headlong down the hall away from the wolf and dog.

"Dingo! Let's get them!" Punching an input into the remote, Dingo was suddenly enveloped in a bright yellow light.

"Aw, Sleet, not again." The dog whined.

"Shut up, Dingo." The wolf ordered.

And Dingo's limbs began to lengthen, his mouth enlarged and he fell on all fours with a grunt. His back broadened until it was large enough for Sleet to sit on and somehow his arms and legs formed into giant wheels. Soon Dingo no longer resembled a dog. Now he was closer to a bulldozer, except that where the blade usually sat there now rested Dingo's massive maw, which opened cavernously, ready to swallow any smaller creature.

Sleet leapt onto Dingo's back, his long cape fluttering in the air after him.

"After them!" He yelled. With a loud screeching of tires, Dingo happily complied.

* * *

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

* * *

They had been running for what felt like ages. Sprinting through corridors, swinging around corners. They entered rooms and closed heavy doors after them. But Sleet had a gun which could shear metal as easily as butter. And what he couldn't blast through he simply ran over with Dingo.

"What _is _he?!" Rouge gasped incredulously as she glance over and saw Dingo bulldoze through another tight corner. It seemed that Sleet and Dingo were not at all concerned that they were ruining Robotnik's factory: they hooted and hollered as they ploughed through corners and exploded walls.

Sonia shook her head, "We don't know. I think he was experimented on by Robotnik or something but—_Aie_!" Her words were cut off as Dingo began to accelerate toward them. They rounded a corner, and only just managed to throw themselves out of the way. Dingo slammed into the opposite wall hard enough to jar their very bones.

"By the High Ones, he's not mobian." Knuckles gasped as Dingo didn't even look phased after having slammed into the wall with a force that would have killed a large bear.

The dog-turned-bulldozer backed up from the wall—now sporting a large dent in its once spotless metal surface—and slowly turned to follow them.

Sonia was still feeling the ringing from the last impact in her teeth and eardrums, and she lay against the wall, stunned. Someone grabbed her arm, hauled her to her feet, and then they were running again.

Tails led the group, guiding them through the honeycomb of halls and corridors. His feet barely grazed the ground as his twin tails propelled him forward. It was still awkward and unusual to be using his tails, after having bound them together for so many years in this timeline; but he was slowly getting accustomed to the welcome change. His memory helped the process along. It was only his body that needed to catch up.

They needed to get to the stairs. If they could reach the stairs then they could possibly loose Sleet and Dingo as they descended to the ground floor. Then they could find an exit—

Tails rounded another corner, then abruptly slammed on the brakes. He skidded to a halt so quickly that Knuckles and Manic behind him could not stop before ploughing into his back.

"What the—Tails! What are you—" Knuckles groused irritably as he disentangled himself from his friends tails, then abruptly cut himself off when he saw what Tails was gapping at. "Aw, damn…"

Robots filled the corridor. Identical in shape and form, alone they would not have posed a threat, but there were at least thirty, lined up in ranks of five, making the hallway impassable. Knuckles saw that even more robots were filing in, blocking the group from what looked to be the staircase. Those in the first row were already raising their guns, aiming to kill.

If it had just been him, Tails and Rouge, Knuckles might have chanced spearing through the army of robots. But, looking over his shoulder, he saw Manic next to him and Sonia bringing up the rear.

_Sonic's brother and sister_.

His memory of meeting them on his Floating Isle was a little fuzzy—dimmed by the new set of memories he'd recently acquired—but one thing he knew for sure was that neither sibling had been raised to fight. They had not spent years opposing Robotnik, participating in a rebel group of outlaw freedom fighters. The two siblings weren't exactly innocents to Robotnik's atrocity, but it was close.

They couldn't risk a confrontation.

Yelling at the others to follow him, Knuckles dove to the side, throwing open a random door and frantically gesturing everyone inside.

Slamming the door closed behind Rouge, the echidna turned the lock and pressed an ear against the door, listening.

The room was barren except for a long oval table and a set of chairs. Everything was a bland shade of grey, there wasn't even a carpet or window in the room, leaving it looking depressingly dead and barren.

"This isn't going to work." Manic said urgently behind Knuckles. "Sleet'll just break the door down. We need to come up with another plan!"

Tails had paced around the edge of the room, and he laid a hand on the far wall. "This is the west wall! Knuckles! If we can break this down we'll be free!"

Knuckles immediately tore his head away from the door and jogged to Tail's side. He rapped on the wall with one spiked fist. Then, drawing back, he punched the wall as hard as he could. The loud bang made both Sonia and Manic jump.

When Knuckles withdrew his fist, there was a fist-shaped dent in the tiled sheets of metal. Nothing more.

"Sorry Tails," The echidna shook his head. "I can't break through this."

Just then, Manic's eyes lit up, as though a light bulb had just turned on over his head. He caught Sonia's eye and the twins seemed to share some silent conversation before Sonia's expression lit with understanding and she nodded.

"What is it?" Tails asked the siblings, raising an eyebrow at their behaviour.

"We know what to do! Just _trust_ _us_." Sonia said with a dry look in Knuckles' direction as she threw his own words back at him.

A sizzling sound came from the door and everyone saw a spot on the door turn a simmering red. The area melted like wax and the red spot travelled upward in a crude outline of the door as Sleet systematically burned his way through the door. Smoke curled upward, bringing with it the heavy sent of acrid, charred metal that had Tails and Rouge wrinkling their noses in disgust.

The mobians backed away warily from the door, but when Sonia made to stand in front of Rouge, the bat reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Hey!" Cried Sonia, trying to jerk her arm back, but Rouge stubbornly held on.

"What do you think you're doing?" The bat hissed, narrowing her eyes. "Stay back!"

"There's no time! Let me go!" Sonia struggled, putting her free hand to the medallion around her neck.

Knuckles saw the hedgehog's gesture and his eyes widened with realization. He had completely forgotten about the triplets' magic medallions. Raising his arm, he placed a hand on Rouge's shoulder. Nephrite eyes looked up questioningly at him and he jerked his head at Sonia.

"Let her go." He intoned. Rouge looked ready to argue, but something in his tone must have persuaded her because her grip on Sonia's upper arm loosened.

Sonia wrenched her arm away, rubbing at the spot where Rouge had inadvertently dug her nails in. "Thank you," she huffed insincerely, squinting in irritation as she realized her arm was probably going to bruise.

BANG!

The door exploded inward, as though kicked with extreme force. Tails had to jump aside to avoid loosing his life as the rectangular piece of metal flew right by him, slamming deafeningly into the wall.

Sleet's nasally sniggering came from the threshold, which was obscured by plumes of smoke rising from the still red hot metal. "Come out, come out wherever you are, little mice!" He called.

Then, a large, imposing shadow appeared behind the smoke as Dingo, still in the form of a bulldozer, rumbled into the room.

"Oh, there you are!" Sleet, peering around Dingo's monstrous head, mocked the mobians even as Dingo's mouth lips pulled back to reveal canines that were as long as Sonia's head and gleaming with drool. "Well, be good little prisoners and give up before someone gets hurt—namely, you!"

"Never!" Sonia cried and, exchanging a look with Manic, the two hedgehogs reached up and touched the medallions on their neck.

Blinding flashes of light filled the room. Tails and Rouge, caught unaware, yelled out in surprise as they shielded their eyes. One the spots their vision had cleared, they looked in surprise and bewilderment at the two hedgehogs. Sonia was grinning widely, her hands now wrapped around a keyboard hanging around her neck. Manic, on the other hand, was twirling a pair of sticks as he perched over a set of drums.

"What the—?" Tails exclaimed in utter bafflement.

"THIS is their big plan?" Rouge gestured emphatically at Sonia while sending Knuckles a severely disappointed look.

The corner of Knuckles' lips quirked into a smirk. "Just wait," he said, in his infuriating 'I-know-something-you-don't' voice.

Rouge was about to make a not-so-nice comeback when Dingo abruptly let out a loud rumble and barrelled into the room straight at them.

Rouge let out a cry of alarm, but it was drowned out by Sonia's fierce battle cry as the hedgehog leapt forward, brandishing the keyboard as though it were some sort of weapon. Rouge was about to scream at the princess—who had apparently lost her mind if she was trying to brain the enemy with a musical instrument—when Sonia suddenly hit a chord on the keyboard and a beam of glowing pink energy exploded out of one end, slamming into Dingo's eye with perfect accuracy.

Dingo squealed as he was forced to form shift back into his regular body, Sleet tumbling from his shoulder to land in an ungainly heap on the ground.

Rouge realized her mouth was still open and closed it, licking her lips with ill-concealed astonishment as she looked at Robotnik's two henchmen sprawled across the floor. "Well… That's new…" She muttered. Looking to her side, she saw Knuckles was looking at her. And she could _see _the laughter in his eyes. She shot him an exasperated stare. "Oh be quiet."

Predictably, he raised his hands defensively. "Hey, I didn't say anything!"

Behind them, Manic struck a brief tempo on his drum set and then the ground under their feet began to rumble. Rouge wobbled, trying to find her balance as she stared at Manic in amazement. The kid had always had an obsession with drums, ever since they'd first met he'd had that annoying habit of pulling out his drumsticks and tapping out random tempos on whatever surface was available. It was only after she found him beating on her precious gems and swore dangerous repercussions if he ever used those blasted sticks in her presence again that he stopped. Still there was nothing in the world that could have stilled his incessant head bobbing and toe-tapping.

Still, she had never known he could do _this_.

A crack formed in the ground, seemingly created by the air itself, as Manic played. The rift travelled, hitting the wall then branching out in all directions like a chaotic spiderweb. Tails, closest to the wall, backed away as a feeling of trepidation hit him. And he moved away just soon enough; the crack hit the ceiling and it was like a mini bomb was exploded at the base of the wall. Everyone ducked as the metal groaned and broke with a resounding clang. The thick slab of concrete that made up the foundation of the wall crumbled into shards and coughed out a cloud of chalk that covered the group of mobians.

Peaking through his hands, Tails saw that Manic had somehow blasted a hole straight through the wall. Daylight streamed in and the kitsune could make out the olive-brown hue of dehydrated trees and plantation on the ground.

"Whoa…" he breathed. "Now that's impressive." He looked appreciatively at Manic.

"Naw, that was nothing." The hedgehog flushed under the praise and made his drums recede back into the shape of a medallion with another brief green light show.

"Nothing my eye," Tails mumbled with wide eyes. He _had_ to figure out how those medallions worked. Then a thought struck him. "Hey, Does Sonic—"

BLAM!

The group was once again diving for cover as Sleet and Dingo had apparently recovered and brought in reinforcements. Sonia fired back with her keyboard, but it was not enough as robots swarmed into the room, opening fire on the mobians without mercy. Lasers flew in every direction, a few chairs were blown to pieces, Sonia was clipped and she screamed, letting the keyboard in her hands drop.

"SONIA!" Manic cried running to his sister.

"GET THEM!" Sleet cried to Dingo, pointing at the twins. Obediently, Dingo rushed forward, only to be caught in the fire by his own robot army. He went flying, crashing into the wall with a painful smacking of flesh against metal. For a moment Sleet looked like he was considering rushing in himself; then a beam of red sliced by his temple, searing a few hairs and Sleet yelled, jumping backward like a startled cat.

"What are you doing?!" Screaming at the robots, Sleet gestured emphatically at the mobians behind him. "Don't hit me, hit them!" But when the robots continued indiscriminately blasting, the wolf decided to cut his losses and make a run for it: escaping through a gap between the robots without looking back.

"We have to get out of here!" Knuckles had overturned the table and was using it as a barrier. Tails and Rouge were crouched at his sides, while Manic fussed over the burn on his sister's arm.

"I'm fine!" Sonia insisted, but the tender way she cradled her elbow spoke another story.

"Tails," Knuckles whispered. "How far are we from the ground?"

"About four stories up."

"Can you carry one of them?" Knuckles jerked his chin at the twins.

Tails hesitated, worrying his lip. "I want to say yes but…" The kitsune cursed his weak tails, but Knuckles merely shook his head.

"Don't worry, just get yourself down. I'll take the Princess, Rouge, you can get the other one, right?"

Rouge raised an eyebrow. "Manic? Sure, no problem."

A laser zinged by right over the top of the barrier, singeing the tuft of hair on top of Tails head. The robots were firing blindly as they gradually advanced into the room but there movements were slow, their aim sloppy.

"GO!" Knuckles yelled and in one swift exertion of strength, he heaved the table up over his head and tossed it at the robots. He caught a row of them in face and sparks flew as they were tossed backwards. One exploded, adding to the confusion. Rouge wasted no time in getting up and running. As she went, she snagged Manic's wrist and he stumbled as he was pulled unwittingly along to the hole in the wall.

"What the—Wai—you wanna?! No wait! WWAAAIIIIAaahhhh!" But Rouge did not heed Manic's panicked cried as she jumped out the window, dragging the green hedgehog through right behind herself.

Knuckles jogged to the wall, where Sonia was already standing, looking out the hole to make sure her brother hadn't just fallen to his death.

"Looks like Eggman hasn't had time to upgrade yet." Tails, watching the robots struggle to right themselves couldn't help a quick quip at their stupidity.

"Tails." Knuckles warned in exasperation and the kitsune, rebuked, hurried over to join his friend and Sonia.

Knuckles guided Sonia to his back, gently asking her if she was able to clasp her hands around his neck and showing considerably more care than Rouge had with Manic as he stood with her, their toes hanging off the edge of the wall.

"A-are you sure you know what you're doing?" Sonia said warily, it was a sheer drop to the ground, not a single foothold or handhold. Rouge was a bat, so she had been able to fly Manic to his safety. Knuckles, as far as Sonia could tell, had no wings. Her burnt arm throbbed as she slung it over the echidna's shoulders but she paid the pain no heed, instead she tightened her grip as Knuckles moved closer to the edge.

A blast hit the wall near their heads and they cringed.

"We'll be fine." Knuckles assured, and without giving her time to prepare, leapt into the air.

Sonia screamed as a fist of ice closed around her chest and she felt her body seize with fear. She closed her eyes and buried her head in Knuckles' dreadlocks, preparing for the heart-stopping fall to the earth. But when she felt nothing but the air flowing through her hair, she cracked open one eye.

She gasped.

Knuckles was floating—no _gliding_—through the air. Like a hang glider, he soared over the ground, except he needed no sail to cut through the air, somehow managing to stay airborne by what seemed to be force of will alone.

'_Incredible.'_ Was the sum of Sonia's thoughts as she watched the dirt far beneath her feet give way to grass, then shrubs and trees. As they glided, they descended and soon Knuckles was weaving them through the foliage with an ease that belied years of practise. They landed softly on the earth and Sonia staggered away from Knuckles, gaping at him.

"Tha-that…" she was speechless as she looked up at his calm face. "Wow… I didn't know you could do that."

"Yes, well…" He smiled and Sonia fancied that he even blushed a little. "It's a new skill."

Before Sonia could ask him anything more, Tails dropped to the ground next to them. His landing was a little rough, and he had to take a few steps to steady himself.

"You okay?" Knuckles asked mildly.

"Yeah," Tails grinned sheepishly, running a hand through the tuft of fur on the top of his head. He'd had an awkward flight: after jumping through the hole in Robotnik's palace wall, he'd free fallen several feet before his wildly flailing tails had finally decided to catch his weight.

Tails was a little miffed that Knuckles had regained his skill with gliding so easily, but had consoled himself by telling himself that flying was harder than gliding anyway.

Rouge and Manic were a few feet ahead and they moved to join them.

After assuring herself that Manic was unharmed, Sonia looked up into the faces of the mobians around her.

"So, now what?"

* * *

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

* * *

"They WHAT?!" Robotnik slammed a fist down on his table, and the plate of cookies resting on the surface jumped. Sleet, being the unfortunate deliverer of the bad news, since Dingo was still out cold, cringed into the folds of his cape. Robotnik wasn't going to shoot the messenger, Sleet told himself as he did his best not to cower before the man.

"They escaped, Doctor." The wolf repeated. "It wasn't our fault, they had help: an Echidna and a fox with two tails—" Sleet faltered as his words only seemed to drive Robotnik into an even darker rage. Sleet felt himself shaking and knew he was definitely cowering now.

"Get out. Get OUT!" He yelled and Sleet hastened to comply, leaving the doctor alone to his thoughts.

Robotnik swivelled in his chair, turning to face the numerous computer monitors set up in his laboratory. Placing his elbows on the Plexiglas table before him, he rested his large nose on his interlaced fingers and stared intently at nothing.

First, there was that mysterious break out from the lower levels of his dungeon. The escape had been executed with such speed and efficiency that there was absolutely no doubt in Robotnik's mind as to the identity of the culprit. Then those two blasted sidekicks somehow infiltrated the base and rescued no only the flying rat, but the Prince and Princess of Mobotropolis as well.

Robotnik was furious. Not only had his incompetent robots failed to realize that they had captured THE Sonic the Hedgehog, but there was now a large gaping hole in his west wall that he'd have to replace. Not to mention the destruction Sleet and Dingo, the useless incompetents, had wrought on his once magnificent halls.

But all was not lost. No. They didn't have the chaos emeralds. They didn't even know where they were. Oh, they _thought_ they knew, but they really didn't.

The truth was, when the ARK had been swallowed up by the black hole, Tails had come up with some cockamamie story that they were being sent back in time, and had put all the chaos emeralds in a space shuttle to send back to the Earth for safe keeping.

What none of them knew was that that space shuttle had never left the ARK. Robotnik had intercepted the signal long before the shuttle was to be deployed, sending a decoy in its place.

And it was quite possibly because of that simple act alone that they were all still alive.

It also meant that the only way to find the rest of the emeralds was to trace them with another emerald.

Back to the matter at hand though…

"Computer, show me the last 30 seconds of recording from guardbot 1001." He snapped. And the computer nearest to his face whirred to life.

"PROCESSING." It spoke in a digital monotone. Then, with a flicker, the image on the screen shifted to show the glowing green lake in the Robotropolis sewers.

The camera showed what the robot saw, and it wasn't much. There was a brief glimpse of a yellow mink huddling like a gutless worm on the ground, a figure Robotnik idly recognized as the once proud aristocrat Bartleby MontClair. Then the robot seemed to pick something up on its scanners because it turned abruptly to the left.

What happened next was anyone's guess: a flash of blue came out of nowhere, there was the ear piercing shriek of shearing metal and sparks and then the robot's camera was crackling and fuzzing as it looked up from the ground.

The face that appeared next on the screen was not one Robotnik would ever forget and his teeth subconsciously gnashed together. Sonic, in all his insufferable glory, put a foot on the robot's chest and smirked mockingly down into the camera, as though he knew Robotnik was watching. Then the recording cut out, filling with white noise and static.

"Rewind. 5 seconds. Pause." The recording halted on a close-up of Sonic's sneering face and Robotnik studied the hated face of his long time foe before turning to another monitor.

"Computer, search 'Miles Prowler'."

Almost immediately, there was a hit: Miles Prowler Sapienti, son of the renowned Dr. Sapienti. Of course, Robotnik had already heard of the event in Acantha, and had had nearly half the population arrested on suspicion of treason, including the kitsune's foster parents. It was always handy to have some back up leverage.

On yet another screen, he pulled up pictures of Knuckles and Rouge, not bothering to speak their names and instead inputting the commands manually. Out of all of them, Knuckles and Rouge had probably changed the least: the former was still cooped up on his island, guarding that ridiculously gaudy emerald of his, and the latter was still making a living off stealing everything with a reflective surface.

Then, in a smaller window, he pulled up a picture of Amy Rose. She was irrelevant. Robotnik pretty much had the oblivious female hedgehog under his thumb.

But there was one more… The most elusive of them all.

"Computer, bring up records of the Northern Oil Factory." A list of video recordings, catalogued by date, time and place scrolled up over the screen.

Two years ago, a mysterious band of rebels had stormed Robotnik's oil factory, doing irreparable damage and breaking out at least two dozen dangerous mobians set to be roboticized. The leader of the rebels was well known. He'd participated in many raids and missions and was hailed by many mobians as a saviour, but he was like a shadow: always unseen, always unheard and fleeting. At the time, Robotnik had not been able to find out the identity of the leader, having only a break and blurry shot to go by. But now he had a suspicion about the elusive mobian's identity.

Finding the recording that he wanted, Robotnik prodded the screen with one spidery finger and a video started playing.

"Pause." He said, almost immediately.

There, barely visible against the dark backdrop of the factory, was a figure swathed in black. But what was most telling about the figure was the piercing eyes of bloody red. A colour Robotnik had only ever seen on one creature that was alive and not a robot.

"More of a Shadow than even I thought." Robotnik laughed, blowing up the image until it filled the screen. "Amazing. Truly amazing." He stared at the creature in awe, and not a little greed as he remembered his Grandfather's most prized creation. Robotnik didn't have any doubt that it was because of the green chaos emerald alone that Shadow had survived the fall from the ARK and ended up in this bizarre time and place.

"So, now all the pieces are on the chessboard." The Doctor mused, looking at all the familiar faces. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Rouge, Shadow and himself. The events on the Space Colony ARK felt like they'd happened just a few days ago. The humiliation and anger at his defeat—once _again_—at the hands of Sonic was still raw.

But Robotnik had a greater plan now. One that no one would be able to stop.

But first, he had to get the chaos emeralds.

Metal Sonic had one, and was currently tracking down four more. Another was as good as in Robotnik's hands. All that was left was the seventh.

Robotnik eyed the hazy picture of Shadow. He'd already sent out search teams. It was only a matter of time.

"But I wonder…" His eyes invariably shifted back to Sonic and he seemed to fix gazes with the unmoving emerald green orbs of the hedgehog. "Once you find out what my true plan is… Will you fight it; or will you condone it?"

Robotnik laughed then, and it was a distinctly unnerving sound.

* * *

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

**End Chapter**

**O-o.o.O.o.o.O.o.o.-O**

* * *

Aaand… SCENE! :D

Wow! It feels so GOOD to have this chapter done! I struggled with this chapter for goodness knows how long… But I think I'm finally happy with how it turned out… I admit I really wanted to have a Sonic section in there. Or, at the very least a Shadow scene… But that's just not the way it came out (next, chapter, next chapter). Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the read :)

**TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED THE LAST CHAPTER: **Thank you! I'm very sorry I didn't reply to each of you personally, but I read all your reviews and they are literally what motivate me to keep writing.

Aaaand…I will do my very best to respond to all reviews for this chapter. :)

Here's hoping the next chapter is up soon!

**Adio!**


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